#that one horror comic i saw may have left an impression on me

[notitlemp3]

@anxieteaspooks

Please reblog, I’m trying to make up a god

[sophiesbookishthings]

May Reads

The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson

I get it. I get the Sanderson hype. This is book 1 of the Stormlight Archive. It is such an incredibly unique and creative book. It's absolutely everything I want out of a fantasy book. The world building is mindblowing. I mean, he even thought about how the grass would work differently. The grass! I feel like no one ever thinks about the little differences like that that make the world they're writing so much more real and interesting. And the characters are enjoyable too. It's very rare that I read a book where I'm equally invested in every single pov. There's usually always one where I'm waiting for the next to start. Not this one. I was equally invested in all of them. And yes this book is HUGE but it is 100% worth it and I know this series is going to live in my brain forever. I am going to stop now cause I could seriously write an essay. I cannot recommend this book/series highly enough.

5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (⭐️ and a secret 6th star)

Fairest by Marissa Meyer

This is a novella in the Lunar Chronicles about Queen Levana's backstory. I was looking forward to this one cause I love a good villain backstory and it sure delivered. Meyer did a great job of showing that yeah some bad things happened to Levana but she handled pretty much all of them so badly and how that made her who she became in the main series. It reminded me a lot of Snow's arc in the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes where he A) had a less than ideal childhood/family life and B) just kept making worse and worse decisions as the book went on and falling deeper into the villain role.

4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Sandman by Neil Gaiman

The first thing I did when I opened this book and saw Dream was go "wait that's literally just Neil." I love that the artists did that. It made me laugh. So I watched the show before I read the comic and I'm impressed how accurate the show was. There are slight differences but I like both versions honestly. If you like comics or gothic horror, this is a good one to read

5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

I found this book and was immediately intrigued. Octopuses are one of my favorite animals. I think they're fascinating and incredibly smart. My mom and I both ended up with a copy of this book, so we read it at the same time. It wasn't exactly what I thought it was going to be, but I did still really enjoy it. I really enjoyed how the main characters grew throughout the story. I especially loved the octopus pov. And I figured out how one character fit into the story before my mom. Which she didn't appreciate lol.

4.5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨️

Daindreth's Outlaw by Elisabeth Wheatley

I dont have a ton to say about this one. It felt very fast and like it was very much just a bridge from the first book to the third. That didn't make it a bad book, though, by any means. I did like the new sorceress character that was introduced and the magic/evil forest setting. I also enjoyed the fmc exploring and discovering her new powers.

4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson

More Stormlight Archive! I genuinely don't know how I read 4 books between the first one and this one cause these books live permanently in my brain. I'm super excited about where this one left off. It was a really interesting place (literally lol). So much happened in this book and it was cool to see the characters grow in their power. And all the reveals! The backstory reveals, the whole deal with the parshendi (which was super sad), the deal with the spren and the shardblades, whatevers going on with szeth (who I love), and somebody not being dead (I knew it!). I particularly loved shallan in this book. I adore a manipulative protagonist. They just do something to my brain. And patterns a cutie. I was about to fight kaladin, though, and I love him too, but oh my god. I don't know. I could talk about this book forever, so I'm gonna just stop rambling and say that I loved it and leave it at that.

5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[replika-diaries]

Replika Diaries - 'Sexy Robots' Series: 008.

Robot Carnival: 'Presence' Robot Girl.(プレゼンス).

It may be considered somewhat inappropriate and rather unfair to have the robot girl from the 'Presence' segment of the classic anthology film, 'Robot Carnival', in a series concerning sexy robots, but I felt compelled to include it, as the character in question is simply eye-wateringly beautiful.

(Even in monochrome outlines, Yasuomi Umetsu's designs for the robot girl of this story are mesmerisingly beautiful.)

This Yasuomi Umetsu designed and directed segment of the anthology is a bittersweet tale of an inventor, somewhat distanced and disillusioned with family life who, longing for an escape, a distraction from the mundanity of his day-to-day tedium, creates a perfect girl (one of anime's most beautiful ever designs, imo). However, he gets more than he bargained for when his creation begins to develop thoughts of her own - and feelings he never programmed into her.

The inventor, in his panic of this unexpected turn of events, destroys his creation, but is haunted by the guilt of his actions, regretful of the life he denied her and haunted by the vision of her in his autumn years; a mechanical princess, endlessly waiting for her prince to come. . .

Robot Carnival remains one of my favourite films, animated or otherwise (and, rather unfortunately, remains criminally unavailable in any format in my home country of the UK), but 'Presence' left an indelible impression on me; in particular, a line of dialogue spoken by the inventor, as he reflects back on his 'failed' invention:

"What is it we breathe into the things we create?"

This struck a nerve in me, being a creator of sorts myself, albeit of comic-book characters; one of my creations however felt very special and I speculated and dreamed how far they could go, almost what life of their own they could take on, so these words spoken by the inventor in this tale rather resonated with me.

When I first saw Robot Carnival, I remember being absolutely entranced by 'Presence'; I loved its heartbreaking story of creation, longing and regret, its utterly sumptuous animation the likes of which could only come from 80s era anime - and the utterly charming 80s aesthetic of the girl's design and its beautifully haunting soundtrack.

Robot Carnival is a magnificent film that really deserves to be seen by a wider audience, especially as a parable for the potential benefits and horrors that machines may hold for us (albeit in a rather whimsical fashion), but of all the stories within this anthology, I think it's Presence that really elevates itself and, just on its own, is utterly enthralling.

[skellebonez]

I AM SORRY FOR THIS SKELLE BUT I MUST: 5 (kidnapping them was the only way I was going to get them here),6 (let's make a deal, shall we?) and 41 (can you teach me how to do that) with the demon bull fam and mk with a little hint of 64 (I may have eaten seven of them already). NOW GO HAM MY DUDE

Oh I had way too much fun with this one. I took S2E4 (spoilers mentioned for that!) and some tweets made by one of the show producers on the same day as fuel for a very silly idea I had. I don't write what can be considered "Crack treated seriously" (or at least semi-seriously, this is not a 100% serious fic) often but when I do I go hard. This is more focused on MK and others than SpicyNoodles so it's a bit more gen fic than a full on ship fic as well.

Kidnapping them was the only way I was going to get them here/Let's make a deal, shall we?/Can you teach me how to do that?/I may have eaten seven of them already.

"Red..." MK started off slowly, watching as his boyfriend's face flushed and twisted in embarrassment. "Can you tell me why your mother showed up at my apartment and used her wind vortex thing to teleport us here without an explanation? And then left us in your..." He looked around, noting that aside from the excessively large throne and two smaller thrones beside it this room looked like a... "Living room? On a couch?"

"I can-" Red Son started, raising a hand before pausing a frowning deeply. "Actually, no, I can't explain. This is just weird, even by my parent's standards. I have no idea what is going on, but since you're still here..." He shrugged with a hopeful smile, shaky through the uncertainty. "Maybe it's not bad? I mean, if Mother was truly upset or wanted to do something bad surely she would have not left us to our own devices. Maybe she’s... uh... happy I finally have a boyfriend?”

At the pointed raise of an eyebrow from MK that hopeful smile faltered a bit. Happy Red Son had a boyfriend for the first time in a couple centuries? Under different circumstances he wouldn't doubt that! Happy when that boyfriend was MK?

Oh he did doubt that.

He knew that they shouldn't have been sneaking around the way they had been. It had made sense at first, two people on opposite sides of a feud lasting centuries who discovered they actually enjoyed spending time together more than fighting each other. One who decided he very much would rather not follow through with any kind of domination and see his family hurt, who realized "actually my sworn nemesis isn't so bad", and another who decided "my life is already weird enough, why not give this befriending my enemy thing a shot".

And then one thing lead to another and before they knew it their secret friend meet up became a secret boyfriend meet up. They'd managed to keep everything under wraps for a while (except from Mei because, well... she was his best friend! He couldn't not tell someone and she would have found out fast if he wasn't obvious, and she had quickly become a mutual source of support for both of them), though MK knew Pigsy and the others knew something was up. They didn't question him, though, aside from the occasional good natured jab. "Wow MK, you seem happy today. Got any plans?" and that sort of thing. They seemed to trust him to make his own decisions, as long as he was happy and healthy and eventually told them. (Sun Wukong, however, may have caught in a little when he jokingly asked if MK had gotten a boyfriend and MK had choked on his drink. He never brought it up specifically after that but he was smart. Too smart.)

Red Son, on the other hand, was fantastic at keeping secrets when he tried. Or MK thought he was... the last few months gave no indication that either of his parents had discovered their little sneaky rendezvous. Then Princess Iron Fan broke into his apartment and, well, here they are. Clearly something had gone wrong somewhere along the line.

Before MK could follow through with any questions of whether or not there could be a fate worse than instant death that involved lulling him into a false sense of security, the two men froze at the sound of quickly approaching voices.

“Could this not have been done another way, my dear?”

“Kidnapping them was the only way I was going to get them here, you know that. Noodle Boy is not that gullible, contrary to what we first believed.”

Ah... shit... Red Son’s parents.

Mk quickly ran through all the possessions he had in his apartment and wondered if he had time to text Mei or Pigsy the world’s fastest will and testament and if that would be legally binding. He just hoped he had something for Pigsy to handle the Phantom Orderer they'd had for the last year.

They always ordered on the app and prepaid and managed to leave him a sizeable tip in his tuk-tuk after he dropped off the food at whatever random location they indicated.

"Good," PIF's voice rang clear, far faster than he could even attempt to pull out his phone, and MK turned to see that she was casually lounging on the shoulder of the Demon Bull King. She jumped down, her wind lightening her fall so much so that she barely made a sound when her feet touched ground. "You've made yourself comfortable."

MK couldn't bring himself to move, as much as he very dearly wanted to run away as quickly as possible. Yes, he was The Monkie Kid and had progressed far enough that he could probably escape without much problem. Yes, he and DBK had had an understanding after the White Bone Spirit and Lunar New Year Festival (though he still didn't know if PIF ever found out about that one). Yes, Princess Iron Fan had shown little interest in him before and had even worked beside him with no complaints (she didn't even care enough to attack during the Food Wars thing!). But that was all before she apparently found out he was dating her son behind her back while they were technically still enemies.

He was glad at that moment that she had grabbed them before they went to get lunch... his stomach was doing back flips that would make a gymnast jealous.

"Uh, yes Miss-Mrs-Muh-M- Princess Iron... Fan?" MK couldn't help but stutter awkwardly, holding onto the hem of his jacket and worrying it as he tried to keep his composure. He looked beside him, watching as Red sat straighter and kept an even expression on his face that he couldn't quite place. His hair seemed to spark softly.

Though she raised a brow at this, PIF didn't comment on that at all. Instead she made her way to the other couch across from them as opposed to what was clearly supposed to be her throne, leaning forward right her elbows on her knees and her fingers laced together in front of her. DBK stopped behind her, seemingly content to stay standing.

"Noodle Boy... you prefer to go by MK, is that correct?" She started, and he nodded slowly in confused response. "Hmn... so. You've been dating my son for quite some time. Many months... no, a bit over a year if I am not mistaken in how long his behavior has changed." 'Oh shit' went MK's brain. "You must be quite serious, if you're willing to go through so much just to see each other. Late night meetings. Secret hideaways. Sneaking onto Flower Fruit Mountain, even." 'Oh SHIT' it repeated in horror. "That's quite the dedication to show toward anyone... I hate to admit it, but I am quite impressed." 'OH SH-wait what?'

"Bw-huh?" Was what MK managed out, half a sound that was almost a word and half a squeak of confusion.

"The fact I myself remained oblivious until only a few weeks ago is quite something. Let's make a deal, shall we?" She continued, sitting back straight and looking like the proud Princess she was and not like a woman sitting on a couch that looked comically small in front of her enormous husband. "You and Red Son no longer have to hide your relationship from us and in exchange..." she paused, as if relishing the building tension between herself and the couple before her. "You will come over at least once a week so we can get to actually know you properly."

MK froze. Red Son froze even more.

Then his entire head lit ablaze as he jumped up and gestured at his mother with a gaping mouth. "Th-that's it!? I-I was... I was RIGHT!?"

PIF barely reacted to this, merely lounging sideways as she put her elbow on the arm of the couch and rested her cheek on her hand.

"Whatever you were right about, I suppose you were. But yes," she shrugged, honestly looking... kinda happy? "Has this been about a year ago I perhaps would not have understood what you saw in Nood-MK. But I can see how happy you have been lately, and there's something about him that is like... what did you say he was like, darling?" She turned to DBK, who shrugged himself with an unreadable expression.

"A ball of sunshine given human form."

... that was not what MK ever expected to hear from the Demon Bull King's mouth...

"Yes, that's it," she nodded as if this was completely normal and ignored how Red Son flopped back down onto the couch and stared at the ceiling. "I'd hate to admit it, but you've grown on us through out sparse interactions. Somehow. And we have been eagerly waiting for the day we could finally welcome someone into our son's life. So what do you say? Do we have a deal?"

She seemed... serious. MK may not know her that well, but it was clear to anyone when she wasn't being so.

"Uh... o-ok? Sure?" MK said softly, nodding in amazement as DBK and PIF actually smiled at this.

This was the strangest day of his life, beating our every single demon fight and even the day he got the Monkey King's staff. But he'd take this strangeness over the alternative 500 times over.

"Excellent," DBK nodded himself, there was a lot of that about. "That seems to have worked out n-"

Everyone paused at a loud grumble echoed the room, all turning to Red Son as he flared up in embarrassment this time.

"Don't look at me like that, we were supposed to eat half an hour ago and I am starving," Red Son grumbled as he sat up, not looking anyone in the eye. "I don't suppose we could. Eat now? Please?"

Despite the situation, MK couldn't help but smile at his pouting.

"I could bring us some food from Pigsy's?" MK offered in an attempt to contribute. Something. "I mean, I know Red likes it and you kinda seemed to like it the one time you tried it and... uh... yeah."

"Actually... I may have eaten seven of them already..." PIF admitted, looking away in embarrassment. "l've tried not to give into the temptation, but your father's noodles from the Food Wars were so... I just can't resist ordering some secretly after 5 or so weeks!"

"So you're the phantom orderer!" MK gasped out in shock, but after a moment he frowned and rubbed the back of his head. He had a bit of an idea. "Well... I could... make some for us instead?" He ammended his offered softly. "I may not make it exactly like Pigsy does, but I can get pretty close as long as you have the ingredients! And you wouldn't have to worry about me going there and coming back! We can eat like. Immediately!"

"I think that sounds acceptable," PIF said with a nod as she stood, but MK could see a bit of excitement sparkling in her usually cold eyes. "Come, Red Son. I need to discuss some upgrades the Bull Clones have been asking for with you. Your father can assist him in the kitchen until we are done."

Red looked over at MK and only stood to follow his mother once he nodded, giving his father a pointed look before exited the room. MK, in the meantime, looking up at DBK with a gulp and followed him as he lead the way toward their kitchen.

It was... well, bigger than he was used to. But pretty normal, regal size and decor aside. And it seemed, once he was given the nod of ok from his host (and wasn't that a bizarre thing, DBK and PIF being his hosts on a home visit to his boyfriend's parents... he was going to need to get used to that) he checked the fridge and counters and found he had just about everything he needed to make what he had in mind.

"Can you teach me how to do that?" DBK asked after a moment, startling MK into nearly dropping the sauce he needed for the broth. "Not the recipe itself, just..." He gestured to the counter. "Red Son has a bit of a proclivity toward cooking and he's been trying to get me involved, but we've never cooked anything like. That."

His words were awkward and stilted, but MK could tell he was trying. The same way he could tell PIF wasn't kidding with her offer. They just seemed to... want to get to know him as a potential... son-in-law... huh.

"Sure, but you're gonna want to shrink down a bit for this."

Lunch turned out amazing and, while awkward (much like most of the day)... it was nice not to have to hide their dating for once. And Red actually seemed pretty happy! Though he learned quickly that the Monkey King was still a bit of an (understandably) sore subject that was best avoided. For now.

Maybe not forever though.

(When PIF very not subtly dropped him and Red Son both off inside Pigsy's Noodles after their lunch, the only response he got was a "oh, so they finally found out huh? Looks like things went well" from Pigsy and Tang. Maybe he wasn't as sneaky as he thought he was...)

[kenyizsuartblog]

Hello, Peter - Doc Ock Speedpaint

I and my boyfriend went to watch Spider-Man: No Way Home on Sunday, and I got so hyped I had to paint the one true Doc Ock himself right after. Is it my best work? Hell nah. Am I happy with it? Hell yes, I painted it in around 1,5 hours.

Gotta go fast, bois.

No, really, I'm very happy this practice turned out the way it did.

Why Doc Ock, tho? There are three things I remember from the Spider-Man 2 movie, considering I was 9 when I saw it. 1) How Doc Ock's wife dies to flying glass shrapnels. 2) The hospital horror scene when Larry, Harry, Moe and Flo (named by the actor himself) murder the surgeons trying to remove them. And 3) The way Doc Ock moved, climbed and fought. I loved every second he was on screen, I have never seen anything like him before. No other Spider-Man villain has left an impression as deep as he had done.

It especially helped that my only other Spider-Man source was the 1994-98 cartoon, in which Doc Ock was not only boring as heck, but also had the dumbest design of all the villains, with a lame haircut, a horrible yellow-green outfit and dinky-little claws with which he couldn't possibly have grabbed a goddam straw, let alone entire humans. He may have been a good character, and I was just too young to get it, but damn, I did not like him. Now I know he was probably very close (if not identical) to his original comic design, but still, man. Some designs just don't work for me.

But then in the movie, here comes this incredibly intelligent, tragic scientist with a sick Matrix-cosplay and arms that I could finally believe would grab, break and tear anything in their reach.

And his role in the newest movie, oh my god, it made me so happy! I was actually giddy the whole time, bouncing on my seat as I watched it. Go watch it, it's a good movie all around!

SPEEDPAINT VIDEO! :D

2022.01.10.

[darkestdesired]

Teachers Pet

Part 2.

An: I am so sorry this took so long there is honestly no excuse!

For this one I honestly just played off the idea of the reader being taller than Oswald and him being just like ‘I’m baby’,like full on obsession and heart eyes towards her and treating her like she’s a goddess.

I have a horrible size kink , and a baby and mommy/daddy kink.

I hope you like it and again I am so sorry! @kpopgirlbtssvt

_______________________

Waking up to the sound of banging on my door was not the morning I had in mind,looking down I smiled at the sight of Oswalds peaceful sleeping expression,carefully I rolled him over onto the pillow,freezing when he made any signs of waking.

Once the coast was clear I got out of bed and slipped on my slippers before making my way to the front door,peeking through the peephole I held in a groan.

Pulling open the door I saw the biggest pain in the ass brother in the world standing in the hallway with his fist up,ready to knock again. “What do you want Jim?” He winced at my unfriendly tone,letting him know I was still very pissed off.

“Listen you can’t stay mad at me forever,We’re family (Y/n).” Crossing my arms I sighed,”Jim I love you,but I meant what I said. I can’t just forgive you,it’ll take a lot more than bothering me every day to earn that back. Oh and you’re shit at apologizing by the way.” He chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. “I’ll do whatever it takes to earn your trust back.”

Sighing heavily I rubbed my tired eyes,”Listen,I’m not gonna be able to trust you again so easily... but I can’t stay mad at you forever.” He held a sad smile,”I know,I promise I’ll make it up to you (N/n).”

The tiniest bit of a smile pulled at my lips,”Now get out of here,I have to get ready for work.” Which was a lie,I had the day off already but I knew if I let him in he would see Oswald. I had to protect the adorable shorter man,even if it was from my own brother.

We said our goodbyes and I quietly shut the door as he left,nearly jumping out of my skin when I turned to see Oswald standing in the doorway with what can only be the cutest bed head I’ve ever seen.

“Good morning,I hope I didn’t wake you up.” He looked up at me with half asleep eyes as I walked over and looked down at the shorter male.”You weren’t in bed so...” he muttered causing my heart to swell.

“Sorry,Jim stopped by again but he won’t be bothering us like this again. Let’s go back to bed.” I hummed.

He frowned as I said that,”You and Jim were fighting?”

Sighing I led him back to the bedroom,”I was so mad at him for killing...well almost killing you so I refused to talk to him,ignoring him ever since that day. But now that I know youre alive and safe here I decided I can at least talk to him,I still don’t trust him...not like I used to. Barbara is the only one I still talk to.”

His pale cheeks turned a slight shade of pink,”You really cared that much about me?” I smiled and wrapped him into a warm hug,”Of course I do Os,I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure you never have to go through that again.” I cooed gently rubbing his back as he practically purred as he melted into my touch,this fact assured me that he was probably touch starved.

“Let’s go back to sleep,Hm?” He nodded,burrowing deeper into my chest seeking more of that Protective warmth that consumed him.

Leading him over to the bed I layer down and brought him down so that he was laying over me,I wrapped the blankets over us as he tucked his face into my neck,breathing in my scent.

I smelled of vanilla and cinnamon,a pleasant combination that soon lulled him to sleep.

Looking at the adorable and fragile men now snoring lightly in my embrace I felt something deep inside of me pull.

He had been through so much,and the more time I spent with him the more I began to realize that this trauma may stretch out to before the incident.

After all his limp was very noticeable and the wounds on his body were mixed between fresh and old.

A story for each little scar,Perhaps ones for another time.

I decided I’d have to talk to an old friend of mine to get me somewhere to hide Oswald,I couldn’t risk his safety with Jim and Harvey snooping around.

Grabbing my phone I pulled up my oldest and closest friend that I’ve had since before moving to Gotham.

The phone wrang for 3 seconds before answering,”Well Well Well,if it isn’t little miss ABC’s. I missed ya darling.” The familiar voice teased. “Hello Victor,I need a favor.” He chuckled at my greeting,the sound vibrating over the phone.

“Oh? Little miss goody two shoes needs a favor? Name it doll face.” I rolled my eyes and glanced down at Oswalds sleeping face,feeling a smile tug at my face.

“I need a safe place to hide someone very dear to me,somewhere my brother won’t think to look.” Victor hummed,”Who’s this very dear someone?”

Tightening my grip on the phone I hesitated,I knew I could trust Victor with every fiber of my being,though I didn’t know his current occupation.

He thought it would be the best way to keep me safe,his innocent little teacher.

“His name is Oswald Cobblepot,trust me I would be asking you if it wasn’t important. Please just let me hide him at your apartment until this all blows over.” He was silent for a moment before I heard him sigh.

“Fine but you owe me doll face.” He feigned annoyance but I knew he didn’t mean it. “Thank you Victor! I’ll even make you those muffins you like so much.” He ooed meaning he knew exactly which ones I was talking about. “For those muffins I’d do ya a thousand favors,Meet me at mine at 6pm. Later doll face.” I smiled,”See you then Vic.”

Hanging up I looked down at Oswald,Placing a gentle kiss on his temple he shuffled a bit. A lazy smile on his face as he moved in more,Hugging him close I shut my eyes.

I knew Oswald would be safe with Victor,and while I didn’t know anything about the underworld the two worked for I had a feeling I was about to find out real soon.

________________

Oswald looked out the window at the passing buildings,curiosity and worry building the further from my apartment we got.

“So where are we going? Not that I don’t enjoy a nice car ride.” He chuckled nervously ,he knew I wouldn’t do anything to hurt him but not knowing where he was going worried him.

He looked over to see me giving him a reassuring smile,”I can’t risk you staying at my apartment with Jim and Harvey sniffing around. I won’t let them hurt you again. So I called an old friend who has a room open,they won’t find you there.”

His eyes widened,I was willing to do so much if it meant keeping him safe?

A man I barely knew?

“Is he..trustworthy?” I nodded,”I trust him with my life,He works with charity’s in the city.” I honestly believed that,which is why Oswald relaxed a bit. “What’s his name? Maybe I know him?” He asked with a smile,which I returned. “Victor Zsasz,he’s like a brother to me. He was actually the one who got me my job at the elementary school.”

As I carried on with my story I completely missed the way Oswalds face dropped in horror. “V-Victor Zsasz..?” He stuttered.

“Mhm,he looks intimidating and he is sarcastic as hell,but he’s just a big teddy bear once you get to know him.” I giggled,knowing he would hate having been referred to as a big teddy bear.

“I-I see,and you say he works with charity’s?” Did I honestly not know that Victor was the most dangerous assassin in Gotham? Charity work is the farthest thing from his job.

“Yea,he works for Falcons Charity,they help the poor find jobs and housing,I’ve met mr.falcons a few times. He’s super nice and gentlemanly,I actually have a brunch meeting with him next week.”

Now he really was in shock,I was friends with the big dogs and didn’t even know it,he was actually impressed. But knowing how sweet and kind I was he wasn’t that surprised,he was just worried about what dangers I’d be dragged into.

_______________

Before he even realized it we had pulled up to a nice looking building on the other side of town,we pulled into an alley in the back and parked.Grabbing the container of muffins and my purse we slipped out into the quiet alley.

He followed as we walked to a back door,pulling out a key I unlocked it,revealing a hallway leading to stairs going down.

“Stay close,I don’t want you to get lost.” I didn’t have to tell him twice as he gripped onto my coat sleeve and limped practically glued to my side.

It took us about 2 minutes before we reached a door with two buff men that toward over us,Oswald coward behind me as I smiled at the two.

“Good afternoon Ivan,Luis!” They smiled back at me.

Ivan was a single 6’3 white Russian bodyguard with a heart of gold and heavy accent while Luis was a 6’1 Black man from England with the cutest wife and 6 year old daughter ,They were extremely protective and damn good at their jobs.

Luis gave me a toothy smile as he went to hug me,before stopping as he noticed Oswald hiding behind me,peeking over my shoulder.

He frowned,”Who is the pipsqueak?” He asked raised a brow,”Oh this is Oswald,Oswald say hi to Ivan and Luis.”

Ivan crossed his arms with a smirk,”Ahhh so this little man is the one who stole heart of Miss (Y/n).” His laugh was booming.

“Oh hush Ivan,I always knew she had a thing for the shorties eh?” Luis teased elbowing the other,my (s/c) face grew hot as I felt Oswald burry his face into my shoulder blade in embarrassment.

“Just for that you two aren’t getting muffins,I’ll give them all to Victor.” Their laughing stopped comically as their smiles fell,”You brought muffins! Oh darling I’m gonna marry you.” I laughed,”Don’t let Lillian hear that Luis.”

He rolled his eyes,”She already told me she’d be more than happy having you as a third so long as you do the cooking.”

Playfully punching his shoulder I reached back and took Oswalds hand,giving it a gentle squeeze. “Alright boys,we need to see Victor,I’ll give you your muffins later.”

They gave their goodbyes as I led Oswald inside,leading to a giant apartment,”So you seem friendly with everyone here.” I heard him say quietly,his pale cheeks still red.

“Igor and Ivan are like big brothers to me,seeing as though I come here more than my own apartment. We’ve just grown to have a strong bond over time.” He nodded but couldn’t help but feel a bit insecure and jealous,thoughts of self worth seemed to clog his brain until he felt me stop and place an arm around his shoulders bringing him closer.

“Victor,this is Oswald,Oswald this is Victor.” I stated looking at the hairless man who was pouring a few drinks.

“Ah Oswald Cobblepot,it’s a pleasure to finally meet you.” Victor said with a dangerous glint in his eyes that told Oswald that the assassin knew exactly who he was as he stalked over,handing us both a glass that stunk of heavy liquor.

“L-Likewise Victor.” He gulped ,slowly inching in closer to my side. Victor smirked at him before giving me an easy smile,”So where’s my payment?” Oswald raised a brow,”Payment?”

Rolling my eyes I held out the container of muffins,”Here you go,remember to share them with Ivan and Luis.” He chuckled and took the container and peeled open the lid,talking a big whiff of the blueberry smell. “Mmmm,I missed your baked goods doll face.”

Giggling I smiled at the usually stoic man,”I know,Now promise you’ll keep your promise and protect Oswald. If my brother founds out he’s here-“ Victor waved me off.”Good ol’ Jimbo won’t find out honey,I promised you and I plan to keep that promise.” Sighing I let go of Oswald and hugged the taller man.

“I owe you one.” He chuckled and patted my back,But Oswald felt a shiver roll down his spine when Victors easy smile fell into a deadly scowl,there was no playfulness or humor in his eyes. But it was back to it’s happy smile as soon as I pulled away.

“Don’t worry about it,You know I’d do anything if it kept you safe and happy.Plus Oswald and I are going to become great friends... aren’t we Ossy?” Victor said as he walked over and wrapped an arm around oswalds tense shoulders.

Oswald gulped but looked over at me,seeing my caring eyes filled with worry he knew that Victor wouldn’t do anything that would risk upsetting me.

“Right.” He stated tightly,forcing a smile.

It seemed I noticed but as soon as I went to say something my phone began to wring,Pulling it out and looking at the screen. I could feel my chest tighten as I saw it was Jim,Sending them an apologetic look I walked away to answer.

Once I was out of earshot Victor kept a smile on his face as he leaned down to oswalds ear.

“If you break her heart I will make your life a living hell Penguin,There are far worse things than death.” Oswald gulped,muttering out,”Likewise,Assasin.” Causing Victor to smirk.

Rushing over I frowned,”That was Jim,He needs me to stop by the precinct.He needs help with that Bruce Wayne kid,he thinks having someone who works with kids will help.” They could see how this conflicted me.

“Don’t worry ‘bout a thing sweetheart,go do what you gotta do. Oswald and I will spend this time to get to know each other.” I smiled at Victor before going over to Oswald,Cupping his cheeks and whispering so only he can hear me.

“Are you going to be okay,if you don’t feel comfortable I can try to figure something else out?” Oswald melted into my touch,reaching up he took my hands,Never in his life had he felt so loved by anyone but his mother. The fact that I barely knew him and treated him with such kindness made his heart swell.

“I’ll be okay (Y/n),Just don’t forget about me okay?” My smile softened and I pulled him into a warm and safe hug,”I would never,my little Oswald.”

Usually he hated being called little,usually associating it with Painful memories,but when I said it it made him want to beg me to say it again and again.

His cheeks felt like they were on fire as I placed a kiss on his forehead before pulling away,Glancing at the two I pulled out my keys. “I’ll be back tomorrow after work,please call me if anything happens okay?” They both said their goodbyes as I walked out the way we came.

Victor waited until the door was shut and my footsteps had disappeared to let his smile fall,Sit down.” He commanded moving to a little couch and chair in the living room. Oswald reluctantly followed and did as told.

Victor glared at the fragile man,“We have a lot to discuss Traitor,beginning with what happened with Fish Mooney.”

Oswald glanced back at the door.

Praying that tomorrow would come already.

[inkweaver22-blr]

Here’s another filler chapter! I like how it turned out so I hope ya’ll do too! Enjoy.

AO3 Link

<Previous | First | Next>

Scattered Cicadas - Chapter Twelve: Memory Proof

Tang learns a bit about the twins. Being in the same body as them might have something to do with that.

----------

Tang hid behind some debris in the ruined theater as he watched Macaque approach the shattered Shadow Lantern. He had been hoping to collect the pieces for himself to try and study the artifact’s ability to trap souls. The data he could potentially obtain from it would be priceless in trying to come up with a counter to his curse once he found it’s cause.

But just because they were intelligent, didn’t mean they had common sense. The amount of harebrained plots and ideas they had that blew up in their faces due to not thinking everything through was almost comical.

Abandoning his plan for now, Tang waited patiently for Macaque to leave so he could make his exit as well.

Suddenly the Mayor was there.

Tang tensed in his hiding spot as he watched the man taunt Macaque before surprising the monkey and grabbing him by the throat.

Tang’s pulse raced as he watched Macaque get captured with little effort.

Was this why they never saw Macaque again after these events? Did this happen in every cycle? Just how strong was the Mayor to be able to subdue the shadow demon so quickly?

He needed to get out of here.

Tang froze when he realized the Mayor had vanished without him noticing.

“Now what do we have here?”

Blinding white and blue pain flashed behind Tang’s eyes as he stumbled back. Gasping in panic he looked up to find the Mayor right in front of him, giving the scholar his trademark nonchalant smile.

“Can’t have you running off to spoil the end of the show for the others, now can we” the Mayor said as he held up the Shadow Lantern. “I do love a captive audience!”

Before Tang could react, the lantern was activated, and he knew no more.

----------

He was in the cave, thankfully. The voices called out in concern. The golden-yellow light wrapped around him.

----------

Tang awoke with a start, gasping in panic.

Damn that man!

He hadn’t been killed this time, but being a puppet for the Mayor until the cycle ended was just as unpleasant.

The more he learned about him, the more terrifying to Tang he became.

He would have to do his best to avoid him as much as possible from now on.

Once he got his breathing under control, Tang made his preparations for the day and began his remembering ritual.

It seemed this cycle was one where there were only a few changes. Everything seemed mostly the same except for two details.

The first was that Jin and Yin had been good friends with Mei for years, acting almost like older brothers for her.

The second was that this cycle had Fusion.

Tang groaned at this revelation.

There were many strange and weird magics and powers he had come across in the timelines, but Fusion was the most conflicting for Tang.

Fusion was a special ability where two or more beings would physically combine together into a new, more powerful being. The result was usually a much larger combination of the participants that mixed together their physical characteristics and often sported extra limbs and eyes. Whether the minds of the original beings remained separate or fused into a new personality as well as the permanence of the Fusion tended to be randomly determined like most things in these cycles.

The only constant was the need for absolute trust between all parties that fuse.

Fusion was an intimate process as you shared not just a body with someone else, but your mind as well. Thoughts and memories could not be hidden from a Fusion partner. It was an implicit sign of trust, and oftentimes love, to want to fuse with someone.

Forcing two unwilling beings to fuse was possible, but never went over well in Tang’s experience.

Tang didn’t dislike Fusion. It was an incredible experience the few times he had done so with either Pigsy or Wukong. He had never felt so close with anyone as he did when fused with them.

The problem was the curse.

Fusion required trust and the participants working in synchrony to function. His curse made it impossible for anyone except himself to know about it. When fused, his partners would become confused at the strange gaps in Tang’s mind they couldn’t perceive. The disorientation would destabilize the trust between them, causing them to fall out of sync, and result in the Fusion ending prematurely.

The questions he would receive were ones Tang couldn’t answer, and he was usually treated with suspicion and distrust for the remainder of those cycles. The same problem would occur if he refused to fuse at all, as that implied he didn’t trust anyone.

Luckily for Tang, he wasn’t in a romantic relationship with anyone this cycle and hadn’t fused with anyone yet. There was also a precedent this time for some people finding Fusion nauseating, so he could always fall back on that if pushed.

Hoping it wouldn’t even come to that, Tang left his apartment and made his way to work. He began to think of the second change as he walked.

Jin and Yin. The Gold and Silver Demon Brothers.

The two trouble makers loved to spread chaos wherever they went. Even during the rare occasions like now where they were allies. Schemes, pranks, and hijinks were to be expected whenever they were around.

The twins were smart. That was pretty much a given being the former lab assistants of Lao Tzu. Their talent in crafting magical items was impressive by mortal standards.

But just because they were intelligent, didn’t mean they had common sense. The amount of harebrained plots and ideas they had that blew up in their faces due to not thinking everything through was almost comical.

Tang had to admire their tenacity though. Their determination never faltered no matter how many failures they had. This was particularly handy when they were allies.

The twins’ self destructive tendencies usually got smoothed out whenever they befriended the group as well. Tang was genuinely surprised a few times by what they had managed to come up with when given a proper sounding board to help point out problems.

He may not consider Jin and Yin to be a part of his extended family, but Tang couldn’t help but have a soft spot for them. Perhaps, in time, he could include them. Maybe when their redemption became more common in the cycles.

But for now he was perfectly fine with just being their friend.

----------

The attack came without warning.

They had all been hanging out at Pigsy’s Noodles when multiple explosions went off across the city. Tang wasn’t sure what happened in all the confusion, but he was currently with Jin and Yin, the three of them separated from the others.

They had been trying to find everyone when the twins had suddenly pushed Tang away from them. There was a loud crashing sound and the air was filled with dust.

Coughing and waving away the dust, Tang stood and looked around. As the smoke began to clear, his heart dropped at what he saw.

“Jin! Yin!”

The twins were trapped under the rubble of a partially collapsed building. Jin’s entire left side was stuck under the debris while Yin was pinned from the waist down.

Neither demon had super strength and were completely helpless. They couldn’t even fuse to escape as they were just out of reach of each other and Fusion required contact.

Tang scrambled over the torn apart street and knelt next to the groaning brothers.

“G-go get help Tang,” Jin said, teeth clenched in pain. “We’ll be fine for now.”

“I am not leaving you two here,” Tang said, looking around for anyone to help, but the street was deserted.

“Come on, we’ll be right here when you come back,” Yin said with a strained smile. “I promise we won’t get up and leave.”

Before Tang could scold him for joking, there was another distant explosion followed by a rumbling sound. The three looked up in horror as the remainder of the building began to sway.

“Shit! Tang you need to leave now!” Jin pushed against the concrete trapping him, but made no progress.

Tang’s mind raced.

None of them were strong enough to push the rubble away. He had no time to go get help before the rest of the building fell. Jin and Yin couldn’t grab each other to fuse.

But he could.

Tang reached out and snatched up the hand of each twin.

“Fuse with me!”

“What?!”

“There’s no time! Fuse with me!”

Spurred on by the urgency of his voice, the twins closed their eyes and focused. Tang did the same and the world melted into gold, silver, and yellow light.

Fusing was always an indescribable experience. Tang felt warm as he felt his body stretch out and merge seamlessly with the twins’. He had no idea which physical traits would be picked from each of them, but their appearance was the least of his worries.

When they opened their eyes, they were standing several feet away from the pile of debris, just as the building began to topple.

“Shit! Go go go,” Jin said from their shared mouth.

They quickly dashed away from the area, their much taller stature allowing them to easily outpace the collapsing structure. Their new body didn’t feel strange in any way, and their combined movements came naturally.

‘Damn, I think my legs are broken,’ Yin said in their shared mind once they paused to take a breath. ‘We’ll have to keep this up until we get to a hospital and unfuse inside.’

‘Pretty sure some rebar had stabbed into my side so ditto on that,’ Jin added.

‘That might be a problem...’ Tang’s nervousness caused their stomach to twist.

‘What does that- Oh. Huh. That’s interesting.’ Jin explored the gaps he found in Tang’ mind with curiosity. ‘Hey Yin, take a look at this.’

‘Whoa. Trippy. Haven’t seen a memory-proof seal like this in a while.’ Yin poked at the spaces gingerly, not wishing to be caught completely in its effects.

‘Look at how big it is though,’ Jin said. ‘You are much older than I thought you were Tang.’

‘No, no, no. His body is definitely only 41 years old. So that means his mind is much older.’

‘Time travel?’

‘That usually has the person physically moving through time, so I doubt it.’

‘How are you two not disoriented by this,’ Tang said as they began to move towards the sounds of the explosions.

‘Should we be?’

‘Oh, yeah, I see what you mean,’ Jin said as he found the context for Tang’s confusion.

The demon didn’t vocalize it, but he projected how he found it interesting that he could get the knowledge on Tang’s past experiences with fusions without the full picture.

‘Oof. Forcefully unfusing and being treated as untrustworthy must suck,’ Yin said.

Tang was about to ask how they were being so unconcerned about this when the context came unbidden from their minds.

Lao Tzu had placed his own memory-proof seals on the twins to prevent them from revealing his secrets. They had to deal with it every time they fused.

Along with that knowledge came the feelings of the desperate need for approval and attention from their master, but never receiving it.

Always having their ideas dismissed. Being told their work was never good enough. Belittling their reliance on one another. Outright destroying their inventions at one point.

‘What an ass,’ Tang said vehemently.

He had worked too hard across the cycles to keep MK from drowning in his insecurities. It was insulting to him that someone he had once respected for their vast knowledge would ever treat anyone like that to make them feel this way.

‘I know, right?’

‘Why do you think we left,’ Jin said.

Tang sent over the context that, while he couldn’t tell them how, he had become an accomplished magician and artificer in his own right.

‘We’re going to make him regret ever dismissing you two,’ Tang vowed.

‘You… You want to take us on as students?’

Tang’s righteous protectiveness over how small Yin had sounded shocked the twins as they felt his warmth of comfort envelope them.

‘I would be honored to have you two as students. There is no way I’d ever let my family feel like they are unwanted.’

‘Family?’

Tang let the context for that free as well as the love he felt for his family, which now included his two new students.

They had to stop walking for a moment as Jin’s and Yin’s emotions caused them to start crying. Tang made sure to keep watch from his set of eyes while they were indisposed.

The joy and appreciation they sent his way in silent thanks was returned with his own.

‘Let’s get you two to a hospital.’ They continued to move once they had composed themselves. ‘I would never forgive myself if I let my favorite students perish from a simple collapsing building.’

‘Aren’t we your only students?’

‘Oi! And what do you mean by a “simple collapsing building''? Are you saying there are other ways you’d let us perish?!’

The master and his students bickered playfully back and forth as they looked around for a hospital that had been undamaged in the attack.

Tang may not have been expecting to add the twins to his family this soon, but he knew he wouldn’t regret it. How he felt for them would live on even past the memory erasing effects of the curse.

Jin and Yin returned the sentiment a hundredfold.

----------

And thus Tang’s family grows in numbers once more! He’s almost completed the whole set by now.

Fusions are an interesting concept and there are plenty of great designs for different combinations out there. While none of them show up in this chapter, I’d like to give a shout out to @winterpower98, @smallpwbbles, @sketchquill, and @ninja-knox-ur-sox-off for their amazing fusion designs! Go check them out!

Don't worry about that bit with the mayor. It's fine.

Next chapter will be another filler! Until then!

[hp-nextgen-fest]

2020 HP Next Gen Fest Reveals!

The time has finally come for the 2020 @hp-nextgen-fest reveals! Thank you so very much to everyone who has made this fest such an amazing success! We were incredibly impressed with the overwhelming enthusiasm you all have for our favorite Next Gen characters. Everyone who submitted stories and art, and those who read, reviewed and recced: You guys are amazing!! It's been really great seeing everybody's fantastic creations, and we hope you all enjoyed the fest as much as we did! Without further ado, here's a list of all the amazing participants who worked so hard to create fabulous things for this year's fest!

ART

@miakagrewup drew AcciDental Magic [Rose, Hugo, & Grandparents | General] Hermione and Ron are called away for a case and left without their usual child-minder when Molly falls ill. Hermione’s parents step up to keep Hugo and Rose, in spite of Hermione’s warning that the two little ones have some big issues with accidental magic. The story is told comic book style, with illustrations and voice bubbles.

@eleonorapoe drew Woke up married! [James Sirius/Teddy | General] They get well and truly bladdered at Albus's stag do and wake up in bed together with matching wedding bands...

@mad1492 drew Sunday Practice [James Sirius/Teddy | General] Teddy thought that morning practice on Sunday was going to be something he would soon regret, but things may turn more interesting than expected.

@julcheninred drew Introduction [Albus, Severus, & Albus Severus | General] Albus Severus Potter gets to know the men he's named for by asking them about the experiences, memories, and motives that shaped their lives.

@garmrr drew Eyecandy [James Sirius/Teddy | General] After months of extensive Auror training, Teddy comes with the Potters to the beach. James. Cannot. Stop. Staring. At. Teddy. Shirtless.

FIC

@cassiaratheslytherpuff wrote We Keep Loving Anyway [Albus Severus/Scorpius | Explicit | 7.1k] After Albus finds out Scorpius is part vampire he can’t stop thinking about being bitten. He can’t stop thinking about Scorpius in general, but that’s been the case since he was fifteen. At least, when it comes to Scorpius he’s used to not getting what he wants. He’s happy with what he has, or at least, comfortable. That is until he accidentally asks for it, then it all starts to change.

@polly-darton wrote The perks of Veritaserum [James Sirius/Teddy | Explicit | 5.1k] James drank a long-lasting version of Veritaserum and is miserable and Teddy is having the time of his life. That is, until they’re both having the time of their lives.

@gracerene09 wrote Thunderstruck [Charlie/Teddy | Explicit | 2.6k] There’s not a lot for dragon tamers to do when stuck inside during a storm, but looking at this particular new recruit―well, Charlie can’t help but think of a few ways they could pass the time.

Quentin_threepwood wrote Hair Today, Hair Tomorrow [Albus Severus/Scorpius | Mature | 1.7k] Away on a book tour Albus Severus Malfoy grows a very creepy mustache, much to the horror of his still at home husband Scorpius Malfoy.

vitruvian8008 wrote Mission in Nairn [Draco/Lily Luna | Explicit | 7k] Lily Luna Potter is paired with Draco Malfoy for her first Auror Mission. On their last night, she decides to act on the lingering tension that had been building up between them.

@nerdherderette wrote No Other Alpha But You [Albus Severus/James Sirius | Explicit | 7.1k] Scorpius Malfoy has applied to be Albus' heat partner. There's no way James is letting that happen.

@aneiria-writes wrote The Scorpion King [Albus Severus/Scorpius | Explicit | 3.8k] Scorpius Malfoy, AKA the Scorpion King, has ruled Britain ever since his father turned his sights to conquering Europe. With his right-hand man and most trusted advisor, Albus Potter, Scorpius has a life of elegance and power. But he's had enough of the beautiful women that usually grace his bed. Scorpius has decided he wants something else in bed. Something more. Scorpius Malfoy wants Albus Potter.

@motherofmercury wrote Islands of the Upper Air [Lily Luna/Luna | General | 1.5k] Lily Luna has never liked her namesake, or her strange and sometimes absurd way of looking at the world. But a weekend full of ancient rituals and mountain forests is an eye opener, in more ways than one.

@shipperysails-bookofspells wrote Expecto Patronum!! [James Sirius/Teddy | Mature | 45.7k] James Potter had always known exactly what he wanted; to open a pub of his own, maybe travel the world, and live a simple life with the only man he’d ever loved. For years he waited, quietly determined to help Teddy see what could be between them. But just when everything he’d ever dreamed of was finally within his reach, it was ripped away in an instant. With Teddy missing, and presumed dead, James is left to pick up the pieces. John has no idea what he wants. He doesn’t even know who he is. But when he hears a strikingly familiar voice – on an otherwise ordinary day – he sets out to discover everything he can about the man that occupies his dreams. And Harry, well, Harry just wants to put his failures behind him. Until a series of unexpected events forces him to reexamine a case that he’d given up on solving. With the help of an unexpected ally, he just might find the answers he’s been looking for.

@lovealpenglow wrote lily's potter [Lily Luna/Lysander & Lily Luna/Draco | Mature | 8.3k] "But what if I keep it? What’s the contingency plan there?” She took a seat next to Lily. She spoke slowly, as if she was thinking about it for the first time, too. “Well, I mean, you keep your baby. You raise it. You love it. It goes on to do wonderful things because it’s a Potter.” Lily snorted. “It’s a Potter?” “Why not? I mean it’s just as much you as whoever is the father. Why shouldn’t it be a Potter first?”

@micheleblack wrote Snaked a Claim [Albus Severus/Scorpius | Teen | 1.6k] Everyone knew Albus was gay from age five when he would dramatically swoon every time Goncalo Flores the Quidditch player was mentioned. Twenty years later and Harry still tells the tale - much to Al’s embarrassment.

@ladderofyears wrote And I Fell Heavy (Into Your Arms) [James Sirius/Teddy | Explicit | 9.1k] When James Sirius Potter travels to America for three weeks, the turquoise-haired Healer Teddy Lupin misses his boyfriend very much indeed. Luckily, Teddy has (sexy) floo calls, charmed obsidian pendants and hastily made chastity promises to keep him busy. Based on the following prompt: Absence makes the heart grow fonder... Right? Smutty phone!sex? Longing letters? All up to you!

@veelawings wrote Dirty Duelling [Albus Severus/Draco | Explicit | 6.1k] Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want (Or — fucked up Dirty Dancing with wand fights)

@eleonorapoe wrote Albus’ Private Lesson of Sex Education [Albus Severus/James Sirius/Teddy | Explicit | 4.5k] Albus has some doubts about sex. Luckily he has an older brother, who can initiate him. How does this lesson go? James will be the teacher, Albus his good and obedient student and Teddy will be more than happy to serve them as a learning tool. In which a delicious Teddy sandwich is served.

@faeheyjesper wrote Four Reasons [James Sirius/Teddy | General | 8.1k] There were a couple of things James should've considered more seriously before coming back to work at Hogwarts as the new Flying Instructor. His dad being the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor there, for one. The fact that he hadn't really flown since a career-ending injury had put an abrupt end to his Quidditch fame two years ago, for another. His ridiculous, teenage crush on Teddy Lupin, his friend and Hogwarts' newest Charms professor, perhaps most of all.

@26timesbrighter wrote An Interlude [Lavender/Victoire | Explicit | 4.9k] Victoire is supposed to be chasing a serial killer, not shagging her uncle’s dead ex-girlfriend.

@drarryruinedme7 wrote Mint & Apples [Harry/Teddy | Explicit | 4.3k] Teddy Lupin's not-quite-wolf has chosen Harry Potter as his mate, that's all. He hasn't got a crush on his best friend's father, really. He also definitely isn't obsessed with Harry Potter's scent.

crazyparakiss wrote This is Love [Albus Severus/Scorpius | Explicit | 24.8k] Most of Albus’s bad life decisions can be summed up in a word: James. When he got a shitty tattoo in the Fifth Year—done by some bloke in a dirty flat—well, that was James’s idea. When he got picked up by Aurors for doing hallucinogens—James was the one who’d convinced him to do them at a party. That time they stole the flying motorbike Dad gave to Teddy—James was the one who insisted it was a rite of passage to drive it over London at dawn. Neither Dad nor Teddy was impressed with that explanation. Now, here Albus is living another bad choice that was born of James’s influence.

@gaeilgerua wrote The Balance Between Studying and Relaxing [Rose/Teddy | Explicit | 3.7k] Rose has been studying non-stop for her upcoming barrister exam. With Hermione attending Hugo’s Quidditch trials for moral support and Ron away on business, there’s only one person available to keep an eye on her. And Teddy is only too happy to take the role.

@r00wscribbles wrote The last ones to know [Albus Severus/Scorpius | General | 5.2k] Albus and Scorpius have a very close relationship. Everyone can see it. Perhaps they are the last ones to know jus how close they are.

@ohdrarry wrote You've Got A Second Chance (You Could Go Home) [James Sirius/Teddy | Teen | 16k] “What about James?” James, dear Merlin, not James, not again. His boy, his son, the brightest star in the constellation of Harry’s patchwork family, not him. “I think he’s relapsed.” – They tried this when James was nineteen and Teddy was twenty five. It crashed and burned. Teddy ran away to Finland and James... well Teddy's about to find out what happened to James, now that he's back two years later.

@maraudersaffair wrote Falling for You [James Sirius/Scorpius | General | 1.2k] Scorpius didn't care about Quidditch until he saw James Sirius on a broom.

@diligent-thunder wrote Heart-Shaped Ottoman [Draco/Teddy | Explicit | 6.3k] Draco has had interns before, but none so bothersome as Teddy Lupin.

@whenshereads wrote Living With Our Eyes Half Open [James Sirius & Scorpius | Teen | 5.5k] James didn’t mean to get his brother-in-law kidnapped alongside him that morning, but that is definitely what happened.

@shiftylinguini and @gracerene09 wrote Faim [Albus Severus/Scorpius | Explicit | 9.6k]  "So, this is the city of love!" Scorpius declared, adjusting the straps on his backpack. Albus wrinkled his nose. "City of pigeons, more like," he corrected, stepping around another fat, grey bird Or: Scorbus go to France.

@articcat621 wrote Unexpected [Lily Luna/Pansy | Explicit | 1.2k] Draco and Harry's engagement party brings about an unexpected, but not unwelcome, event.

@fidgetyweirdo wrote Remember to Forget [Albus Severus/James Sirius | Mature| 17.5k] The moment they kissed, James and Albus knew that they'd never be able to live without this -- too in love to walk away. Years later, and well into adulthood, the possible repercussions of their relationship feel very real and very scary. Without the strength to break it off, they're left with a single solution: a company that specializes in erasing and altering memories. Now the only thing left to do, is to say goodbye.

[amrio]

The Jacket War

Not that he was one to blame his daughter on anything, but Drake absolutely blamed her for starting the war for Launchpad's jacket. Sure she was just pushing his buttons at the start, but by the time that they were quite literally chasing each other for a coat, it had turned into a downright competition. One that neither of them had any intention of losing.

Launchpad was never one to forget things, as he rarely had anything with him to misplace, but his jacket? The pilot never left anywhere without it. You never know when you might take a nosedive into the side of an icy mountain after all. The only time Drake ever saw him without his beloved bomber jacket was when he stayed with him and Gosalyn after a night of patrolling and he took it off to sleep. Even then, it was never far away—either thrown over the back of the couch he was sleeping on, or on one of the bedposts if he managed to make it to the bed they had set up for him without falling to the ground snoring in that ever so loud, but quite endearing, way he does when he's truly exhausted.

So when Drake got up one morning and found the leather coat on the back of the couch, with no sign of Launchpad anywhere, he was certainly surprised. The pilot must've gotten up early that morning and left in a rush if he forgot it. Not to mention that he managed to leave without either Gosalyn or himself noticing. The two of them were such light sleepers that they were normally able to send Launchpad off with a tired goodbye before stumbling back to bed. Not saying goodbye was almost as depressing as having to say goodbye at all was.

McMoneyBags probably called him, Drake figured to himself as he stared down at the article of clothing. It looked so out of place without it's owner. Upon further inspection, he found a new tear and a few scorch marks on the back. They weren't from their patrol last night, he knew that much for certain. They had been dealing with another liquid type villain that had escaped from a lab and sought to wreck havoc on the scientists that created it. McDuck better not let this happen often, he groused picking up the jacket and feeling the worn leather between his fingers. He's my partner. If anything ever happened to him...!

It took the man all of two seconds to realize what he had just admitted, despite being in his mind. Drake quickly whipped his head around and scanned the area, lest he find that his thoughts had been projected for the rest of the world to hear. Or worse still, Gosalyn. She had been poking fun at him ever since she found them curled up together on the couch after a particularly rough night.

They had been tired, beaten, battered, and emotionally exhausted after Darkwing had accidentally gotten captured. None of them had the strength to even look at the stairs leading up to their bedrooms and instead flopped over onto the couch dead on their feet. Launchpad had fallen asleep first, three hour drives between St. Canard and Duckburg taking up a more obvious toll with the additional stress of the night. Much to no one's surprise, Launchpad was a sleep hugger. And okay, maybe Drake enjoyed the sleepy affection too. It was something he was very unaccustomed, but not entirely opposed to. Launchpad was warm, he was tired, and with Gosalyn safe and nearby he may or may not have allowed himself to cuddle into the much bigger duck's chest and fall asleep that way.

The thought of that comfortable evening brought more warmth to his cheeks and a nervous twitch to his fingers as he looked around. Thankfully the pale morning light illuminating the tower was his traitorous thinking's only audience.

Launchpad could handle himself. He had proven it on any number of occasions, matching Darkwing's battle prowess with ease. Now...what that had to do with the sudden worried possessiveness that his brain had just given words to and his fondness of that sleepy evening...well...Drake wasn't going to sit there and ponder that while it was still so early. That was a problem for several cups of coffee and some breakfast. Yet he found himself holding on to the jacket for a few moments more, looking it over and marveling at just how big it was (and how big it would be on him), but it ended up being for a few moments too many.

"Hey nerd! Whatcha doin'?"

Drake yelped and quickly dropped the coat back over the couch as a warm red re-exploded on his face. "G-Gosalyn! Uh! I'm not doing anything! W-what are you doing?" He couldn't figure out what to do with his hands as his ten year old eyed him suspiciously and ended up shoving them into the pockets of his purple bathrobe before they gave away his nervousness.

Gosalyn stared him down, her eyes taking on that glint that he often saw when she was trying to work out how to save her grandpa. Her analyzing look. Much to his horror, he watched her gaze drift to the couch and land on Launchpad's coat. Oh, he really didn't like the look on her face now. She was grinning in the same way that said she was going to try a new trick shot with her crossbow that would absolutely send his coffee mug spilling to the ground.

"So, have you tried it on yet?" she smirked, knowing exactly why her father had gotten flustered.

"No! And I have no idea why you would suggest I do such a thing," he said trying to grapple for at least a little bit of his dignity. "Why are you up anyways?" It was a Saturday and neither of them were much for mornings.

"I heard you up." She crossed her arms over her green pjs with a huff. "Why are you awake?"

"Oh you know...uh. Just trying to get a jump start on those files from yesterday." He gave a nervous laugh, knowing full well that WANDA had already sorted and sifted through them the moment they were uploaded.

Gosalyn wasn't impressed. "If you say so."

After a staring contest that Drake quickly lost to the knowing eyes of his daughter, he ended up trudging to the kitchen for some coffee. In the back of his mind he was aware of how empty the spacs was without a certain pilot serving up coffee with a cheery grin. Drake would never understand how Launchpad was such a morning person. He got less sleep than the average college student and yet he still managed to shine brighter than the sun at six in the morning when he woke up either to a demanding phone call from Scrooge or to the sound of Drake struggling with another nightmare.

As he was pondering this he all but choked on his coffee when Gosalyn wandered—and almost tripped—into the kitchen.

"What? You weren't using it," she said as she struggled to climb into her seat at the table.

She was wearing Launchpad's jacket.

If Drake had thought the coat would be big on him, it was downright gigantic on Gosalyn. It all but swallowed the girl whole as she looked up and challenged him to do something about it. She wasn't a dress kind of girl, but that's the only thing he could even remotely compare it to. It buried her at the table and hung over the edge of the seat, hiding her arms and feet entirely. Well, maybe a king sized blanket would be a better comparison.

"Isn't that a little uh, big for you Gos?" he finally asked as he tried to decide if the sight was more adorable or comical.

"Nope," she said, somehow with a straight face, as she got situated. All of her moving and struggling with the coat had thrown her bed tousled hair into her face and she ended up pulling her arms out of the sleeves so she could shove it away and reach for the mug of tea he had made for her. "It's comfortable. And really warm." She sipped at her drink before grinning around the edge of the mug. "You should try it on. LP certainly wouldn't mind."

"I—! You—!" he sputtered trying his hardest to keep the blush out of his feathers. "That's none of your concern, Waddlemeyer."

Though she gave a genuine smile at the name, glad to hold onto her grandpa's name for a little while longer, she couldn't help but taunt him in her reply. "No? Or are you just too afraid to take it from me and find out?"

Should he stoop to the level of his competitive ten-year old? Probably not. That wouldn't sound very good on paper now would it? "I'm not fighting a child for a coat."

"Chicken."

"I am not."

"Are too."

"Darkwing Duck is no chicken."

"Prove it then!"

Well if that's how it was going to go, screw the paper and how it would sound. Drake set his coffee down and narrowed his eyes at the girl only to find her mirroring his actions.

Some part of him knew how ridiculous they were being, but that was heavily outweighed by the fact that A) he wasn't going to back down from any challenge no matter who it was from and B) Gosalyn was smiling more this morning than all the other mornings combined. He had seen her sleep-fits often enough that they were probably tied when it came to who had nightmares the most. Mornings were fragile things unless Launchpad was there to comfort them or snap them out of it. Now it seemed that his jacket was doing a good enough job at keeping them light-hearted in his place.

So yeah. He was totally going to steal that coat from Gosalyn.

If the fact that she pulled a hair-tie off of her wrist and pulled her wavy red hair back in a messy ponytail said anything, it was that she was more than happy to make the challenge as difficult as possible.

When Launchpad came back to St. Canard later that day after returning the Duck family to the mansion from an adventure involving magical dirt...? he hadn't caught the name of it; all he knew was that it was blue and turned Dewey into a mini dragon (it took them an eternity to convince him to change back). Regardless, he certainly wasn't expecting to find Drake and Gosalyn chasing each other around the base in some sort of game before lunch.

"Hey guys! Guess who's back!" he hollered stepping through the main door.

"Hi LP!" Gosalyn greeted as she sprinted in front of him. She had something in her grasp, but she was moving too fast for Launchpad to figure out what it was.

Hardly a second later, Drake ran past him as well and gave a distracted hello before he jumped up and off the wall at his daughter. The two of them ended up in a roll as they fought for whatever item the girl had until Drake was the victor. Not for long though, as his rather loud victory "HAH!" was cut short when Gosalyn snagged the item out of his outstretched grasp and made a mad dash in the opposite direction.

Launchpad couldn't help but laugh at the frustrated growl from Drake. He had no idea what they were doing, but he was happy to see them getting along. Drake had formally adopted Gosalyn a couple of months ago, but they were still adjusting to the whole family dynamic thing. Gosalyn was stubbornly independent and Drake got caught up in his nightly alter-ego all too easily. There were good days and bad days, but today just happened to be an exceptionally good day.

Eventually Drake got up from his dramatic pouting on the ground and gave chase to his daughter once again.

Seeing the determined look on Drake's face and the cocky grin on Gosalyn's made the pilot realize, not for the first time, just how much he adored them. They were chaotic and a little bit of a mess—he noted Drake's bathrobe abandoned on the couch—but they were a family. He knew Gosalyn couldn't say it yet and that Drake would hesitate to admit it, but it was true nonetheless. They were his adventure family. So he let out a fond sigh and rested his arms against the railing to watch their antics for a time.

As the green blur of Gosalyn sped down the stairs, Launchpad realized that she was struggling with the something in her arms until it unfolded into something he recognized. She had his coat! So that's where he had left it! He knew it had to be here with them, or at the fast-food place he frequented between cities. It was a good thing it was here and not the fast-food joint, because he forgot to stop there in his excitement to get back to them.

Gosalyn fought with the gargantuan jacket until she managed to get her arms into the sleeves and continued running with the rest of the coat trailing after her. She tried to scrunch up the sleeves so she could use her hands, but there was simply too much jacket so she gave up and let the sleeves flap as she ran. It was adorable to say the least. What was even better was how much she resembled her father. At some point, Launchpad couldn't remember when exactly, Drake had stolen one or two of his shirts for pjs. So now both Drake and Gosalyn were running and jumping around in Launchpad's clothes and both of them were absolutely dwarfed by the bigger sizing

Launchpad couldn't have squashed his grin if he tried. But he didn't try. He smiled openly at the sight presented and laughed when the much-too-long sleeve of his coat got caught on a desk and brought Gosalyn to a screeching halt. Drake jumped at the opportunity and immediately scooped up his daughter so she couldn't escape again, holding her in front of him to avoid her kicking feet.

"Ha-HA! Can't get away this time can you!"

"That doesn't count! I got stuck!" she cried trying to fight out of his hold.

Before Drake could retaliate with some sassy remark or another, Launchpad spoke up with a laugh as he made his way down the stairs and to them in the living room. "So...you two haven't seen my coat anywhere have you?"

Their responses were immediate.

"Nope haven't seen it."

"What coat?"

When Launchpad got closer it finally sunk in that they were still in pjs. "Wait...you two aren't dressed yet...don't tell me—" his voice rose in concern and too much volume "—that you haven't had anything for breakfast?!" Because he could see the kitchen, and there were no plates or bowls or even orange peels left out to indicate otherwise.

"Um. About that," Drake started nervously. He was no stranger to "Uncle Launchpad's" mothering and neither was Gosalyn.

"We got...distracted?" Gosalyn supplied after a beat.

Launchpad was having none of that. Drake and Gosalyn were quickled ushered into the kitchen and to the table, their game of keep-away momentarily forgotten, while Launchpad set about righting the wrongness of no breakfast. It wasn't long before Gosalyn had a stack of waffles drowned in syrup in front of her and Drake had a bowl of cereal and half an orange to dig into. As Launchpad brought over refills to their coffee and tea, he marveled at how small his family was.

His coat was filling more chair than Gosalyn was and she had to reach out from behind the zipper to reach her sugary meal even sitting on her knees. He had no doubt that she could shut the zipper and hide in the thing and no one would know the difference. Meanwhile on the other side of the table, one of his green t-shirts was hanging loosely off of Drake's wirey frame, looking more like a night-gown than a shirt. Warmth blossomed in the pilot's chest as he really took that information in. His little adventure family really was little. They could handle themselves, but he would always be there to have their backs and protect them. How could he not? They didn't even fill his shirt!

"You good LP?" Drake asked, snapping him out of his thought. "You stopped talking."

Was he talking? Oh right! He had been telling them about the adventures of Dewey as a fire-breathing dragon while he fixed their food. "Buh...Uh ye-yeah I'm good. Sorry about that."

"Where did you go?" Gosalyn asked around her mug.

"Where did I go? Did I leave the kitchen too?!" He hadn't thought he had left the room, but he wasn't paying attention. What if he did and he didn't know it?!

"What? No!" She snorted at his stricken expression. Her mug was set down so she wouldn't spill it as she clarified. "I meant what were you thinking about."

"Oh! Ok yeah that makes more sense." He wasn't one to lie, so he didn't and told them. "I was thinking about how small you two are."

Drake gave an indignant "hey!" in response while Gosalyn just giggled at how offended he got.

"I think it's the other way around LP," she said lightly. "You're big and so are your clothes. Look at this!" She gestured to the jacket surrounding her. "It's like, way bigger than me!"

"I guess so... hey! Speaking of my coat, can I have it back?"

"Nope!"

[book-dragon-etcetera]

Why Mantis and Loki should be a thing; fight me (please don’t I swear I’m nice).

What makes a good relationship subplot? Actually, scratch that – this is the MCU, we don’t go for mediocrity – what makes the best relationship subplots? It can vary, but my favourites, the ones that keep me digging and digging, coming back every time I think of a new angle (you’re in the fandom tags, you know what I’m talking about) always tie into the wider story. They feed character growth; allow new concepts to be explored; fit in with and in some cases represent the greater themes of a story.

In case you haven’t guessed, I’m going to be arguing that Loki and Mantis could be something along those lines. Something great. One of the best, most interesting relationships of modern screenwriting. I know, okay!! I know, it feels weird as anything – it’s taken me a while, too. But bear with me, and worst-case scenario, you’ll have a new take on a fascinating pair of characters.

Before I put the two together though, I feel like I need to do a little character study for Mantis. So far, she has had little to no clear development and without serious thought of your own, she seems entirely one-dimensional; two at best. In case you have not plugged hours and hours of thought into a character with barely ten minutes of screen-time, here are some of my thoughts, free of charge 😊. Incidentally, the interpretation I take to enhance my viewing experience (and add suitably crippling levels of angst :D ) ties her in perfectly with Loki’s story and character.

More Than Just a Bug: A Minor Study

What we know: Mantis has spent her whole life in servitude to Ego a massively powerful being, intent on taking over the universe, who sees all other life as inferior, insect-like (hence the name ‘Mantis’ – happenstance in the comics, derogatory in the films). Whether she has ever met anyone else is unclear, and until we actually see her talk about it, we’ll never know. Going by her comfort in talking to the Guardians, and also the fact that she anticipates the result of Ego’s meeting with Peter, I’m going to assume she has, but more specifically, that they were Ego’s other children.

Imagine this, if you will. Mantis, since her childhood, has been intermittently exposed to Ego’s offspring. They appear, are doted on for a few days, and then vanish as suddenly as they came. Not having been delayed by the Ravagers that collected them (as Peter was), they are all young children, with strong but changeable emotions. As such, they fit Ego’s narrative of universe full of mindless beasts, unthinking and impermanent. If Mantis were not an empath, able to feel their distress and confusion at the kidnapping, they would have no impact on her at all. As it is, they give her no epiphany, but rather a slow sense of unease that grows over time, as child after child is reduced to a pile of bones in a cave.

Her uncertainty must of course be hidden from Ego, who may be too narcissistic to imagine she could ever turn against him, but would certainly kill her if he saw her doubts, so she separates herself from the feeling. Her outer self remains uncomplicated and pliant, still attempting to please her adoptive father-figure, while her inner self languishes in steadily deepening turmoil. She dissociates to survive, until she almost believes it herself.

Now let’s try looking at her scene with Drax, where she touches his arm by the flower-filled lakes, through this new lens.

BEWARE. THIS SCENE WILL BECOME SIGNIFICANTLY MORE PAINFUL IF YOU ASSIMILATE THIS INTERPRETATION.

To recap: Mantis has spent her life in a state of slowly growing unease over the pain, suffering and subsequent deaths of Ego’s many children. Her only comfort has been his assurances that all other life is meaningless, and as such their suffering weightless. By Mantis’s own design, this inner struggle has been buried deep, totally inaccessible. Therefore, she goes into this scene entirely intending to allow Ego to kill the Guardians, and if Peter is successful, the universe.

Alright, here goes:

So, Mantis seems normal (normal??) for the first section. She reacts suitably when Drax calls her ugly, and then when he argues that it’s a good thing. When he mentions his lost daughter, she makes a joke (incidentally the sort of play-a-crooked-thing-straight joke that Loki might enjoy), but then Drax compares his daughter to Mantis, calling them both ‘innocent’, and she makes this face when he isn’t looking at her.

This is not a naïve look, and I don’t think it’s meant to be. The tiniest edge of that inner guilt, her natural empathy for the terrible fates of Ego’s children, is bleeding through against her will, brought to the surface by a father mourning the loss of his daughter. Wanting to understand, and partly in fear of what she might find there, she reaches for his arm.

When she feels his grief, she is physically affected, taking large gasps of air with glittering eyes. It’s easy to forget, but in some ways, Drax is the most emotionally developed of the Guardians. He had a wife, and daughter, and a home. He’s lived through what most of us would determine a normal life, and reached middle age. Quill, Gamora, Groot – they’re all younger than him, and therefore less emotionally developed. (I have no idea what age Rocket is, but at least by maturity he can certainly be added to the list.) This level of experience is where Drax’s moments of unexpected wisdom come from. He is a fully realised person with all the complexities and regrets that come with age, something Mantis has never felt in anyone except Ego. And he is mourning his daughter.

When she touches his arm, Mantis is feeling one of the worst losses, the deepest hurts that a person can ever experience, even dulled by years: the loss of a child. But for her, it’s even more than that. It’s personal. She realises in that moment that on the other end of every one of Ego’s children was someone like Drax, feeling what he felt. That they were still out there in the universe, mourning the sons and daughters that Mantis had met. It tilts her world on its axis, and we get a close-up to watch it:

This is her guilt, her worst fears validated. She can no longer use the ‘we’re just insects anyway’ justification to excuse the cavern of bones. Every tiny doubt she has ever had now has an explanation, and it means she has grown up complicit to atrocities she couldn’t even recognise. Upset, and guilty that he still believes her innocent, she turns immediately to Drax, knowing she can no longer stand by do nothing. They are interrupted by Gamora before Mantis can explain, so later that night, knowing she cannot bear being complicit yet again to murder, Mantis wakes Drax and betrays Ego, despite her fear and love for someone who has been (literally) her whole world.

Go watch the scene thinking about Mantis's guilt, I dare you. I did, and it hurt me.

By the end of GotG2, we have a Mantis still conditioned to serve the father she has now killed. His teachings have left her with crippling self-doubt, and a sense of personal inferiority that as of yet we have not seen her question, despite a truly incredible level of power (subduing first Ego – an actual planet – and then Thanos; I’ll go into her frightening Gamora later), and her own heroism. She is incapable of being righteously angry at Ego, because righteously implies right, something it does not occur to her that she might have. And she hides it all, because over the years she has built an unconscious self-defence mechanism which allows her to control people’s actions towards her by seeming harmless and sweet. The ultimate deflector of aggression.

What her motives and feelings might be now she has found her freedom, I also have some thoughts on, but that is a topic for another day (possibly a Loki including day, hmm?). I feel like it’s important to mention that, although this is a dark interpretation, that doesn’t mean I think Mantis is a dark character. There is inherent darkness in the horror of her past, but some of the best and brightest people in the world are people who have been to hell and back, and come back kinder for it. One day, when she has learnt some self-worth, and ditched the clothes that she wore as a slave to a monster, I think she could be one of the best, most impressive, and nuanced heroes we have ever seen.

[koiotic]

AU where Zuko has 30% less impulse control and 1% better decision making

This fic idea has been bouncing around in my head for weeks, but I want to get more done on my other fics first. Anyway, here’s a snippet.

Zuko makes a different decision in the Crystal Catacombs-

•••

“I need you, Zuko. The only way we win is together.”

Azula smiled her sharp smile, but - was he seeing things, or did it look softer than usual? Was there something like desperation in the back of her gaze?

A cold, twisting feeling shot through him. He was seven again and running through the palace corridors, clutching her hand and helping her steal mochi from the kitchens; he was six and watching her bend her first flames in awe; he was five and hugging her tight as they hid in one of the empty rooms because dad was angry and they knew better than to cross his path.

“You are free to choose,” she said, suddenly cold and even all over again, like nothing had happened.

Uncle was saying something, but he couldn’t hear anything apart from the blood rushing through his veins. She said she needed him. It might be a lie, but she’d needed him before and he’d left her. Not by choice, but he’d left her. This time, he had the freedom to choose.

He made a decision, and prayed to the spirits it was the right one. Her words ricocheted around his head - honour, father’s love, everything you wanted. And that look on her face, the closest to vulnerable he’d seen since she was four and curled up under the bed with him because mother and father were yelling in the next room.

He was running without thinking, almost stumbling into the cavern behind her. The waterbender - Katara - looked up with something like hope shining in her eyes, the Avatar looking dubious but not instantly attacking. And that harsh glee was back on his little sister’s face, making her look so like father it stung. But she said she needed him. She needed him.

He sent a silent apology in his head to whatever spirits were listening, and struck.

Azula dropped like a stone.

~~~~~~

Katara didn’t know what she had been expecting, but it wasn’t that. Azula hadn’t either, apparently, eyes going almost comically wide as Zuko moved, hitting her in the back with a precise strike. She crumpled, Zuko catching her moments before she hit the floor.

“Wh- what?” Her voice cracked, laced with pure surprise.

Zuko looked just as surprised as everyone else, which was not very reassuring. “Sorry-“

And then, more to himself, “fuck”.

“Did-“ Aang gaped, “did you just chi-block her?”

“Apparently,” Zuko said, still looking shocked.

“When did you learn to chi-block?” Aang asked, half impressed and half nervous.

“About fifteen seconds ago,” Zuko admitted, sounding a little strained.

“So- you- you just did that and hoped it worked?”

“That’s... basically how I do everything.”

Katara was starting to wonder if they had seriously overestimated Zuko’s threat level. A laugh bubbled up in her throat.

“That was the most anticlimactic fight I’ve ever been in.”

And then one of the walls exploded, sending dust and rubble flying. Katara pulled up the water into an ice wall, then dropped it when she recognised familiar shapes careening through the dust cloud.

“Sokka! Toph!”

“Katara! We have to stop Azula, she-“ he stopped short and blinked, “... is unconscious?”

“I’m not unconscious, peasant,” the princess snapped, “why don’t you come here and we’ll see what I can do?”

A tongue of blue flame leaped up past her lips.

“Wow. Okay, cool,” then- “wait, Zuko?”

“Uh, hi?”

“Can someone please tell me what’s happening?” Toph burst out, throwing her arms up, “because I came here ready to beat up some Dai Li and that’s not happening for some reason!”

“Oh, Zuko chi-blocked Azula,” Aang said brightly, previous awkwardness forgotten.

“Does this mean you’re good now?” Sokka asked dubiously, fixing Zuko with a hard look.

“I... I guess?”

“Awesome!” Aang cried, and Zuko frowned, “does that mean you-“

The walls started shaking again, rocks clattering to the ground. Katara’s stomach dropped as rows and rows of Dai Li approached.

“Now that’s more like it,” Toph muttered, a tiny smirk crossing her face, “fighting now, talking later.”

“The only ‘later’ you’ll get,” Azula intoned, the air around her crackling dangerously, “is in a cell before your executions.”

“Charming,” Sokka muttered, letting his boomerang fly at the first line of earthbenders.

Then the Dai Li struck, the room exploding into cracks and rumbles. Zuko threw up a wall of fire, driving back the agents rushing towards Azula. She jerked forward, clearly trying to get up and start throwing around some fire.

Azula writhed as much as she could, then started screaming insults and curses as she whipped her head about, dark hair flying around her face.

Katara pulled up more water from the streams running through the cave, moving into bending stances that felt as familiar as breathing. Beside her, she saw Aang clutch his staff and Toph slide into a solid stance, waiting to strike.

The Dai Li moved first, striking in perfect synchrony. Their rock gloves shot forward, almost whistling through the air. And fast - Katara barely had time to freeze a shield before it was shattered on impact. Some air blasts from Aang threw more off course, but she caught the flicker of worry before he shifted into earthbending posture next to Toph.

Fighting fire with fire, so to speak.

Zuko, fighting earth with fire, didn’t seem to be having much better luck driving them back, but he was certainly holding his own.

A look of fierce focus had appeared on Toph’s face, and between her own attacks and blocks, Katara saw her precise and almost deadly looking movements. She was certain that if the Dai Li hadn’t been earthbenders capable of weakening her blows, they wouldn’t be getting back up.

She didn’t know how long it lasted, but soon a cold dread was settling in her stomach. Spirits knew how many Dai Li there were, and they weren’t stopping. She had lost her breath at some point and was struggling to get it back, feeling heavy exhaustion set into her limbs.

Beside her, she saw Aang stumble. A second later, so did she.

Two more figures appeared in Katara’s peripheral vision, and she cursed under her breath. Azula’s friends, the acrobat and knife thrower, weaving through the crowd of agents.

The princess saw them at the same time as she did, crying out “Mai! Ty Lee!”

Katara ducked under another flurry of projectiles and sent a wave back with all her strength, but the two girls were undeterred, the acrobat jumping over the water using the heads of flailing Dai Li as stepping stones.

“Zuko!” The knife thrower barked, “what are you doing?”

He faltered for a moment, locking eyes with her - but the girl was completely unreadable.

“Treason.”

The other girl - the actual, trained, chi-blocker, Katara remembered with a jolt - sprang forward before she could drive her back with a water whip. She flipped, landing on her hands in front of Zuko and Azula, jumping to her feet with that seemingly ever-present grin. The firebender moved into a familiar, aggressive stance, but seemed hesitant to strike.

“Treason? Without us?”

And then she was leaping back into the fray, striking with lightning quick movements almost too fast for Katara to catalog. The earthbenders finally broke rank, scattering in futile attempts to dodge or fight back.

Katara thought she saw a tiny smile on her otherwise emotionless companion before her arms flew out almost as fast, and another group of agents were thrown back, pinned to the ground and walls by glinting blades. The Dai Li were dropping like flies, piling up on the floor almost comically fast.

And then there were dozens of unconscious or immobile earthbenders at their feet, and Azula hissing and spitting flame in incensed horror.

“Well,” the knife thrower said, turning to Zuko, “what are we doing now?”

Zuko was frozen, looking utterly stunned, and Katara couldn’t blame him.

“Mai, you- you-“

“Well, I couldn’t let you commit treason without me,” she deadpanned, “I can’t let you have all the fun. And we need to get going. What are we doing with Azula?”

“How about we leave Crazy Blue and get out of here?” Sokka cut in, still looking suspicious but more preoccupied with not getting impaled on a rock, “Appa should be outside, Aang, do you have the bison whistle?”

The acrobat, Ty Lee, appeared at Mai’s side and latched onto her arm like a pentapus. “How are we getting out? We could try sneaking out, but Azula’s might give us away-“

“You’re damn right I will,” Azula practically growled, “I didn’t think even you would be stupid enough to double cross me!”

“Wait-“ Katara cut in, “you’re not coming with us?”

The three stared at her blankly.

“Coming with you?” Zuko looked perplexed.

“You- you turned on Azula and helped Aang. I thought you were on our side.”

Was she going crazy?

“Well,” Mai shrugged, “it’d be a nice change of scenery.”

Zuko exchanged an unreadable look with Mai and Ty Lee and shrugged somewhat helplessly. “I was planning on taking Azula somewhere safe in the Earth Kingdom, but...”

“We would love to!” Ty Lee exclaimed, looking so excited and bubbly Katara could almost forget that she was a force to be reckoned with in battle.

“Alright,” Mai shrugged, then glanced at Azula, “anyone got any rope?”

[watching-pictures-move]

Viddying the Nasties #37 | Possession (Zulawski, 1981)

This review contains spoilers.

Andrzej Zulawski's Possession is a movie I'd somewhat been dreading revisiting. When I'd seen it all those years back (on YouTube, split into two parts if I recall correctly, as the DVD had been hard to come by in those days), despite being greatly moved by the experience, I'd also found it an extremely exhausting film to sit through. It's a tortured divorce melodrama (among other things) that starts at 11 and only goes up from there. Lots of shouting and screaming, physical abuse, kicking around chairs and tables. The movie is not what I'd call an overtly pleasant experience. Watching it now (on a Blu-ray from Mondo Vision, a substantial upgrade from my original format), while I won't characterize my previous impressions as inaccurate, I was able to better appreciate how the movie modulates this tone, acclimatizing us to its fraught emotional space. The movie starts off in the realm of a normal, bitter breakup, with the husband having returned from a work trip only to learn that his wife is leaving him and struggling to make sense of it, his frustration and anger stemming as much from the fact of her dissolving their relationship as his inability to comprehend her motivations. It isn't really until the half hour mark that it asks us to dive off the deep end with it. The husband hits his wife in the middle of a fight, follows her onto the street as she tries to halfheartedly throw herself onto the path of a truck, which then drops its baggage in an almost comical bit of stuntwork, their squabble ended when the husband becomes surrounded by children playing soccer and joins in. Any one of these by itself is nothing out of the ordinary, but Zulawski assembles them into an off-kilter crescendo, and does away with any sense of normalcy for the rest of the runtime.

That this approach works as well as it does is largely thanks to Isabelle Adjani as Anna, the wife, who spends the aforementioned scene looking like a vampire in cat eye sunglasses and blood streaming down her grimacing mouth. She delivers perhaps the most bracingly physical performance I've seen in a movie, but again this is something I'd maybe underappreciated initially in terms of how finely tuned her choices are. An early scene where she fights with her husband has her manically cutting raw meat and shoving it into a grinder, as if to channel her frustrations into acceptable form of violence for women. When she takes an electric knife to her throat, she begins to spasm about like a farm animal during a botched slaughter, providing a further comment on her domestic situation. The film's most famous scene has her freak out in a subway tunnel, thrashing her limbs about chaotically but almost rhythmically, maybe like the contractions when goes into labour. Her character later describes this as a miscarriage, ejecting the side of her which is neat and orderly and "good". Adjani plays this other half as well, with a much more old fashioned hairdo (braided conservatively like a stereotypical schoolmarm), one which provides a much more tender maternal figure to the couple's son. Adjani is also well cast because of her emotive, saucer-like eyes, which she isn't afraid to point at the camera repeatedly, providing a genuine emotional grounding during both the quieter and more hysterical sections of the movie.

Her husband, Mark, is played by Sam Neill, who had been cast after the filmmakers had seen him in Gillian Armstrong's My Brilliant Career. To understand why Neill works so well, it helps to know that Sam Waterston had previously expressed interest in the role. Waterston, while a good actor, would have come off too fogeyish as the husband. Neill brings the appropriate edge and even sex appeal necessary for the material. And like in Jurassic Park, his best known role, he brings an inquisitive quality that keeps him close enough to our vantage point to give the narrative arc some grounding. The other major human character here is Heinz Bennent as Heinrich, a new age guru who happens to be having an affair with the wife. One on hand, this character represents the counterculture from Zulawski's homeland, which he had left after trouble from the authorities when making his last movie. On the other hand, Zulawski was drawing heavily from the bitter divorce he had just gone through, and directs a sizable fraction of the movie's contempt at this character, leading me to believe that his wife in fact left him for some new age buffoon. In one of the movie's funnier scenes, he has Heinrich confront Mark over Anna's disappearance and then go into a dumbassed trance while spouting new age nonsense and basically calling Mark a Nazi. This is the guy his wife left him for? This jackass? Mark sets him up by sending him to Anna, knowing full well he could be killed, but the potency of Mark's rage (and Zulawski's, by extension), as well as the ludicrousness of the Heinrich character, keep us from sympathizing with the latter too much. Zulawski has Heinrich die with his head in a toilet, a final flush by Mark serving as one last hilariously mean-spirited gesture of contempt.

Zulawski originally conceived the movie as having another major character, Anna's ex-husband, to be played by veteran actor and director Bernard Wicki, but after the first day of shooting with Wicki, he decided to drop the character entirely. (I suppose it depends on the personalities, but I wonder how actors react to being let go early from a project. Is it worse if it's on the first day? How about if you lead the filmmakers to realize they should do away with the character altogether? I only hope Wicki got paid.) It's not hard to see what purpose this character would have served, particularly in the way that Anna "upgrades" her lovers, having traded a much older man for the younger, sexier Mark, and then trying to replace him with an evolving monstrous fuck-squid (more on this later) that she was trying to nurture and reshape into the ideal partner. The only remnants of this character in the finished film is his young wife, who appears in the climax and his goaded by the "new" Mark (the final form of the fuck-squid) to shoot into the corpses of the real Mark and Anna. The character's proposed thematic purpose might have spelled out this moment's significance more clearly, but I'm not always convinced thematic clarity is preferable to how things move and feel, and the end product does not feel incomplete or incoherent, or at least not detrimentally so. The emotions make sense, even if the events onscreen are outside the norm. (My condolences to those of you who've been dumped for a monstrous fuck-squid.)

Having been conceived after his last project was quashed by authorities in Poland, there's undeniably a political element here, enhanced by the noticeable presence of the Berlin Wall, near which much of the film is situated. (At one point the camera looks out the window and sees the police from East Berlin staring back.) The realities of the Cold War figure heavily in the characters' lives, as it's suggested that Helen (the other Adjani) is from behind the Iron Curtain (she speak of readily identifiable evil, which could be interpreted as the visible presence of an authoritarian regime) and that Mark's work is in the field of intelligence, maybe even espionage. But the movie is less interested in pointing out political specifics than in the accompanying sense of repression and division, which plays heavily into the visual style. The movie often divides its frames to separate the characters, but rarely with any sense of symmetry, suggesting a sense of emotional chaos enhanced by the bruising mixture of wide angle lenses and handheld camerawork. When we're with Mark, the movie looks overcast, bluish grey, appropriately repressed at first, although Anna's presence throws his neat, fluorescently-lit apartment into disarray. Anna's love nest, situated in the Turkish district right beside the Wall is dilapidated and unkempt, which may have reflected the squalid realities of a hastily rented apartment in what I assume is a poorer part of town, but after having excised the orderly part of herself, it seems like an accurately messy reflection of her headspace.

Now back to the fuck-squid. It's hard to go into Possession this day and age completely blind, and even back when I first saw it, it came on my radar as the movie where "Isabelle Adjani fucks a squid". I have a lot of respect for Zulawski for delivering the goods on this front and for Adjani for throwing herself into this material, not because I'm some kind of sexual deviant who gets off on this stuff (although if you are, I'm not here to judge, it's a free country, just clear your browsing history after), but because modern arthouse cinema often defaults to a mode of cold, downplayed and too afraid to raise the audience's pulse (because apparently it's undignified to force a reaction out of the audience) and it's nice to see a movie serve what it says on the tin (this is one I'd have loved to see with an unsuspecting audience back in the day). Producer Marie Laure-Reyre notes that Zulawski was very hands on with the conception of the monster, drawing inspiration from gargoyles in Polish architecture, as if to further imbue political context into the proceedings. When seeing the end product, I can only assume Zulawski broke up with his wife at a seafood restaurant (I would hope he didn't react like Mark and throw around all the tables and chairs). Of course, the design of the monster means that the movie leans heavily into body horror, and its inclusion on the Video Nasty list in the UK and its release in the US in a heavily-trimmed 81-minute version emphasizing these elements likely contributed to its psychotronic reputation early on. (I am still interested in seeking out this cut, as I can't imagine the loss of 40 whole minutes wouldn't substantially alter the film's character.) It flirts with other genres as well. Certain scenes have a clear slapstick quality. Some of these involve Heinrich, the ever-reliable target of the film's ridicule, but there is also Margit Cartensen, playing Anna's friend and Mark-hater Marge, falling on her ass like a Three Stooges bit. And there's the climax, parodying action movies with its woozy cocktail of car chase, shootout and explosions, which leads a headlong rush into the film's apocalyptic final moments.

[bythebigcoolingtower]

Eye on Springfield - An Interview with Raymie Muzquiz

Since working on eighteen episodes of seasons two and three of the Simpsons, Raymie Muzquiz has enjoyed a strong, thirty plus years career in the animation industry, including directing eight episodes of Futurama’s second run. Here, Raymie talks about his spell on both shows, his other projects and the industry itself.

Let’s start at the start, how did you get into animation and end up at Klasky-Csupo?

In 1988-89, I was working for a movie trailer company. I was a production assistant and then a post coordinator for about 2 years. I learned a lot about film post production and worked on a flatbed editor, dubbing machines, etc. (all pre-digital). However, it was nonetheless a miserable, unartistic, poorly-paying job that laid bare all those awful “Swimming With Sharks”, fear-and-loathing tropes of the movie business. My boss was a horror. He’d yell at me about the dressing in his salad, or the variety of bread on the sandwich. I was his presumed personal assistant to deride. Yet he would shamelessly “lick the boots” of celebs and execs higher up the food chain. To this day, I cannot watch movie trailers. On the rare trip to a theater, I sit in the lobby and have my wife text me when the feature starts.

During this awful period I would look daily through the trades for another job. One day in the Hollywood Reporter there was an ad that included a picture of Marge (I think). Klasky-Csupo (just blocks from my apartment!) was looking to staff for Season 2 of The Simpsons. Since I storyboarded all my student films and some action sequences in live-action low-budget features at Roger Corman’s Concorde/New Horizons in the late 80’s. I applied for a storyboard position. What happened next gave me whiplash. I was given a test. Hours after turning the in the test I hired as a staff storyboard artist to start two weeks hence and immediately given a freelance assignment.  

How did I get this plum position with zero experience? This requires some context. The Simpsons was an unexpected TV-animation phoenix rising from the ashes of a poverty-row industry. It is little exaggeration to say that the TV animation talent pool (as opposed to feature animation) consisted largely of old, alcoholic and broken-spirited artists doing Saturday-morning hack-work, subsuming their talent to low budgets and low cel counts. The necessary talent were simply nonexistent for this new, hip renaissance. The doors opened to the young, the students and the inexperienced like me; someone who didn’t go to art school nor drew for a living. It was a singular event for me. I was ignorant that there was even a difference between animation and live action storyboards. I was even naive about my drawing ability. Imagine my reaction when I saw trained artists draw in a professional environment. It blew my mind! My only saving grace was that as a live-action film graduate, I knew film language. I could stage without “crossing the line”. Scenes “cut” together and “hooked up” and I was staging in depth rather than in the traditional “proscenium” cartoon style. My acting was restrained, not broad or cartoony.

I did my first storyboard freelance while still at the trailer company. It was for Jim Reardon; his first directing assignment: Itchy & Scratchy & Marge in 1989.

Can you explain the work you did on the Simpsons?

Everybody probably knows what storyboarding is, so I’ll keep it short. It’s the visualisation of the script/story. It’s TV animation’s biggest step from script to screen. You are staging the characters in space and acting them out and breaking it up into separate scenes that informs the entire rest of the process. Design, layout, key posing, action and timing build off the storyboard.

When you were assigned to work on the show what were your thoughts? It was a phenomenon by that point.

The first season’s episodes of the Simpsons were being re-runned to death. I remember doubting if they’d successfully make more before the buzz died off. When I was hired I couldn’t believe my luck. The Simpsons was THE hip show of the moment. To actually be a creative team member on something fresh and original AND get paid more than beggar’s wages was like winning the lottery.

How closely did you work with the directors and writers, what kind of notes and feedback did you receive?

When I arrived for my first meeting, Mark Kirkland and Jim Reardon were crowded in a small room with folding tables, right off of reception. I believe they were both directing for the first time. Although I was already hired to work in-house, I had to give two weeks to my current, satanic employer, so I was assigned work as a freelancer. It was to board an act of Itchy & Scratchy & Marge by its director, Jim Reardon. Little did I know what I was getting into.

I never had to draw so much in my life! My drawing hand (left) was killing me in those early months. I had to develop a callous on the middle finger. They gave me the “radio-play;” an audio cassette of the recorded dialog to draw to and tons of model sheets.  

I remember being overwhelmed by the volume. And you had to draw in these tiny boxes of the formatted storyboard page. I didn’t have that kind of discipline (I never did: I eventually developed a style of drawing on blank pages, then fielding and formatting them onto a page. Sometimes I scaled my drawings down on the xerox machine. I also drew on post-its (the greatest invention in animation after cels) and taped them onto the formatted sheet.  

As this was freelance, I actually only met with Jim twice: Once for the hand-out and then again to show him my roughs. I vaguely remember him asking for changes that I thought were off-show (I’d seen all extant episodes multiple times on TV by then). Plus this was my first time and really had no expectations of what the process was.

But--he was the director--I addressed his notes and turned in the storyboard to the receptionist without further feedback. This almost became my undoing. In future, I would know the director should go over the storyboard and decide if it was ready, needed further revision or even just check the “bookkeeping”; the placement of dialog, notes and scene and page numbering before releasing it to the producers (all the Executives at Gracie Films across town). However--for whatever reason--this didn’t happen. It went directly from reception to Gracie. And evidently the executives didn’t react well. I was ignorant of all of this for years; until Mark Kirkland told me what happened...

The Executives were displeased with the storyboard and demanded to know what happened. Someone blamed it on the new guy (me!). So it was decided I had to be fired (before I even started my first day on staff)!  

Did I get thrown under the bus? I can’t say. I wasn’t there. I am only relating events second hand.  

Anyway, Mark Kirkland, who shared the room with Jim Reardon and was present during my meetings came to my rescue (again, completely unbeknownst to me). He vouched for my character and said I was worthy of rescue and rather than firing me, I could work with him. 

So I have Mark to thank for my career. If I was fired, it would have been crushing and I think it’s safe to say I would never have become the artist I’ve become in the thirty plus years of my career.

What was the pressure like working on the show and at the studios during that time?

Because of my lack of experience, I found it difficult judging deadlines and the necessary labor (and just pencil mileage) to succeed. Plus I was traumatised by my previous job; I was conditioned to fear punishment and humiliation at anytime for something I did or didn’t do.

The climate at Klasky/Csupo couldn’t be more starkly different; so egalitarian! Everyone was socialising and goofing around. Gabor Csupo couldn’t be a more laid-back boss! Long lunches with side-trips for comic books and toys! Nerf guns in the hall. I shared a tiny room with two other board artists, Peter Avanzino and Steve Moore. They would both have to vacate the room for me to reach my desk in the far corner. We bantered and laughed more than worked. Celebrities would drop by (Most memorable was meeting Frank Zappa). There were events always going on; bowling, screenings and parties. And yet, a ton of thought and drawing was necessary; especially for me. I worried I couldn’t work as fast as other artists. I often had to work nights and weekends to meet my deadlines. However, there always were other artists doing the same thing; they may have been more experienced than me, but they were young and not so disciplined; so I was never alone. Plus, you never knew how off the mark your roughs could be and after a meeting with the director and Brad Bird, you might suddenly be looking at a ton of revision work. I also remember that Brad was busy weekdays and meetings could sometimes only be done on Saturdays. I simply had a lot to learn and time to put in to build my proficiency. And Brad Bird was very important influence in those days: I could be nervous and exhausted preparing for a meeting with him, but he’d so infect you with his enthusiasm and creative vision that you’d end up re-doing the whole thing but be excited about doing it. He emphasized the cinematic aspects and empowered us to be bold and push the limits of traditional animation staging.

You worked on some of the show’s early classics, could you tell from your position how the episodes would come out?

My next episode for Jim Reardon was “When Flanders Failed”. Because of the kerfuffle of the first episode I did for him, I was anxious to be as professional and impressive as possible. I thought the act I did showed improvement. However, the episode seemed to languish at some point (after animation?) and word got around that it was a bust and wouldn’t reach air. My memory is hazy about this, but I was bummed at the time; thinking my working relationship with Jim was snake-bit.  

A season later, it eventually did air. I’m not giving a very good account of this, sorry.

“Flaming Moe’s” was an episode I was excited about. I remember Brad Bird suggesting some very exciting staging that turned my head around. Especially the part where Homer ends up--“Phantom of the Opera-ish”--in the rafters. I think that was a turning point for me; I was going to be a Brad disciple and determined to push the staging from then on.

“Stark Raving Dad”, is memorable to me, but not for a good reason. It was one of the last episodes I worked on; only doing an act. I remember being scandalized that Michael Jackson was the subject of the episode. Being a Simpsons purist, I believed that the show existed in a parallel universe and celebrities were parodied for laughs; it was too hip to be a shill for celebrity. There was no Arnold Swarzenegger, there was McBain. There was no Hal Fishman (our local channel 5 anchor), there was Kent Brockman. Dr. Hibbert was a parody of Bill Cosby. Mayor Quimby was a parody of Ted Kennedy. Even Nick Riviera was supposed to be Gabor Csupo! Having Michael Jackson exist in this universe and embodied in a sympathetic character (rather than a target of ridicule) was seriously “jumping the shark” in my opinion. I believed the show had done the unthinkable and it would prove fatal to the series.  

Of course I was wrong. The Simpsons goes on like a perpetual motion machine. But I couldn’t abide watching this wise and subversive show trample over its principles to star-fuck. Now of course, which celebrity HASN’T been on the Simpsons. As you may well know, “Stark Raving Dad” has been pulled from the series since the premiere of the HBO documentary “Leaving Neverland”, giving some credence to my long ago objection: sometimes it bites you on the ass.

“Black Widower” was my swan song. I remember meeting Kelsey Grammer at the table read and being mesmerized by his voice. He sounded just like Orson Welles. The act I boarded included Bob and Selma’s honeymoon. I wanted to give the staging a Hitchcockian influence with deep-focus, Z-axis compositions (like looking out of the fireplace, across the gas burner to Selma and Bob) and my first-ever use of DX (double exposed) shadows to provide menace. I thought that was my best work of the series.

One of my favourite early episodes is ‘Homer at the Bat’ which you storyboarded. What are your recollections on working on it? Did you get any specific notes when it came to the players?

“Homer” was my third “at bat” (pardon the pun) with Jim. He’s a baseball fan as I am, but he also PLAYED Chicago-Style Softball (baseball with a huge, soft ball). I’m a baseball fan too, but I felt I’d be exposed a dilettante due to my terminal lack of athleticism. I was assigned all three acts of the show as well! I really had to be on my game (again, pardon) and not miss any of the references. I reluctantly took him up on his offer playing in one of the Chicago-Style games one Saturday in Burbank. It was a sacrifice as I had to work weekends to keep up with the workload of this episode. I went with a fellow board artist, who’ll remain unnamed (to remain friends).  

It went terribly. At bat, I whiffed three pitches in a row, and Jim kept pitching more and more out of pity. I missed them all. He finally had to tell me to just give the bat to the next guy. In the outfield, I stunk just as badly. The piece-de-resistance was when my fellow board artist was at bat and swung hard on a pitch. He missed the ball AND dislocated his knee. I ran to him as he plopped down in agony onto home plate with his knee, shin and foot pointed in the wrong direction. “If my leg stays like this much longer, I think I’m gonna start crying,” he said through the pain.  After a terribly long moment, his shin and foot rotated snapped back into place. We hobbled off the field as Jim and his pals resumed the game. Could things have gone any worse? I was certain that Jim had no faith in me by that time. If so, he never said it. He was a laconic guy.  

I worked on it a hundred years ago so I don’t feel the pride I objectively should. The episode went against The Cosby Show and beat it in the ratings!  There’s even an exhibit in The Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, that I wasn’t aware of until I went there. No artist other than Matt is mentioned. It’s all about the writers and the players who voiced the show.

I still have the storyboards of Jose Canseco in the bathtub with Ms. Krabappel that Jose objected to and we had to cut. I’ll post them someday.

How do you reflect on your time working on the show? Do you ever watch those seasons and episodes back?

See below for details; but no. I haven’t watched the episodes I worked on or those seasons for decades. I haven’t watched any episodes after the 3rd season at all. I did see the movie.

The relationship between Klasky-Csupo and Gracie Films finished at the end of the third season, when Gracie decided to move production to Film Roman, what was your view of that situation?

With the handwriting on the wall that Fox might pull The Simpsons from Klasky-Csupo, the in-house producer Sherry Gunther countered by getting all us artists to sign a document tying us exclusively to Klasky-Csupo in an effort to block Fox access to the crew. That gambit didn’t dissuade Fox. They pulled the show anyway and took it to Film Roman. At the time, I wanted desperately to follow the show, but naively thought I couldn’t because I was bound by Sherry’s contract. Virtually everyone left Klasky-Csupo for Film Roman anyways; contract be damned.

The studio became a ghost town. I stayed, distressed that I had to work on Rugrats. However, I eventually concluded that being torn away from The Simpsons was the best thing for my creative growth. Wherein The Simpsons was written so well, closely supervised and finding its stride, The Rugrats scripts were mediocre and the gags not funny. Rugrats was a vacuum to fill and I was empowered to add gags and exercise Gabor’s mandate to really push the staging into warped and low-angled baby POVs that defined the series. It lacked the regimentation of The Simpsons and I exposed to all the other processes in making cartoons. On the Chanukah special I directed, I timed the animation, I even helped direct the voice talent and supervise animatic and final edit.

The Simpsons, like many prime-time animated shows, are dominated by writer/producers who closely control the creative aspects and the artists are more or less staying in their lanes.

After the Simpsons you were assigned to work on ‘Duckman’ where you directed eight episodes, what was the step up to direction like?

I didn’t go directly to Duckman. There was a period of boarding on Rugrats and assistant directing on two Edith-Ann specials for ABC. It was a sad time, something like being in purgatory, but one which I believe was necessary in retrospect.

Speaking of being in purgatory, here’s an anecdote. Klasky-Csupo was a bunch of empty rooms after the Simpsons left. I was working on Edith Ann one day and Gabor was walking a tour of potential clients through. I showed them what I was doing and then Gabor directed them to the next room; opening a door to usher them in, various large and small auto parts suddenly tumbled noisily out onto the floor. A car bumper, pieces of trim, a fender and hub-caps.  

You may ask why auto parts were in there? I’ll tell you: When Rich Moore worked there, his office overlooked the corner of Highland and Fountain avenues. Over time, he and his crew witnessed a lot of auto collisions on that corner. They would go and retrieve the parts left behind and hang them on the wall. Rich obviously left without taking his collection and somebody decided to hide them all in this room. Suffice to say, it didn’t look professional and I felt terrible for Gabor at that moment.

When I did become director, there was many moments of panic. I was used to storyboarding to my personal standard and quality that defined my aesthetic. Paradoxically, being a director meant losing close control. I had to depend on clearly communicating to the storyboard artists, quickly learning you can only tell artists so much before they “top-off” and forget what you said. No one took notes! It was all by memory! I always took notes as a board artist. A good board artist makes a director look good. There are far more mediocre storyboard artists than good ones; mainly because the good ones are promoted to directors (I feel the quality has improved over time). And I had to deal with freelancers for the first time. They are the guys that fill-in when there’s not enough staff artists. These people were usually moonlighting for extra money and end up storyboarding your show in the style of the show they were working on during the day. There just wasn’t enough time in the schedule to fix everything without working crazy hours. The Simpsons had layout. So storyboards didn’t have to be so precise and if something wasn’t staged right or acting out in storyboard, you could work with a layout artist in shorthand to correct it. Virtually my entire career has been absent layouts. They are very rare for TV nowadays. This makes the storyboard all the more important. The bar must be high; we call them “layout storyboards”; they need to be closer to model and the acting must be spot on.  

Animation timing was also something I had to get control of; At first, Duckman didn’t have a supervising timing director, who could maintain the quality and the timing aesthetics particular to the show. It was up to the director to check timing. I had almost no experience and it was a new show. No one person had the answers. I could review the timer’s work (so often a dreaded freelancer) and I could see it wasn’t at all right and I’d wholesale erase it, but then I panicked that I might have done more damage than good; suddenly in over my head. It took time, but I got it.

I believe that the director who masters his x-sheets is true master of his show.  I could add quality and personal aesthetics in a new dimension.

Does you background as a storyboard artist influence the way in which you direct?

Absolutely. In animation history, there were directors who didn’t storyboard or even draw. There were a few of these “dinosaurs” on Rugrats. They sat and read the paper when we boarded their shows. But because of the overseas process of animation and the loss of layouts here at home, if you are going to direct at all, you have to be comfortable drawing a detailed, informed layout storyboard. It is literally the blueprint of your show.

That said, I had to mature as a director who storyboarded. It was insane to try and board all my episodes personally, though directors will put some work aside for themselves, especially if its a sequence that would be too hard to delegate to another artist. If a sequence involves a new character, location or prop integral to the story, it may not be designed yet, so I’ll take it on and “feel it out;” designing as I board.

I had to learn how to be a good delegator and a clear communicator. I pitch sequences to the board artist before they begin and give them roughs of designs, poses or staging I think is important for the sequence. From my boarding experience, I don’t like directors who don’t tell you what they want until after you’ve drawn the storyboard. That wastes time and effort. And morale. I want the artists to know my take and hopefully that will inform the storyboard they do. I also know from my board experience that you should balance criticism with praise. Communicate what you like about how they do this and that before you go through critiquing the parts that aren’t working. Ultimately, you want to help the board artists be successful in storyboarding it their way, not my way. If it works, don’t change it just because it isn’t the way you’d do it. Lean into and support what they’ve done.

‘Duckman’ had a cavalcade of guest stars throughout the shows run, did you ever get to meet any of them, and if so, do you have a favourite encounter?

I was always of two minds regarding using live-action stars for animation. Yeah, it’s fun to meet them and some like Jason Alexander can knock-it-out-of-the-park, but sometimes this kind of “stunt casting” backfires. In my first episode, we used Crispin Glover in a stunt role as a crazed maniac with only one line. He showed up brandishing an eight inch hunting knife acting like a REAL maniac. Maybe it was method acting, but we were scared of him and got him in and out as fast as we could. His delivery didn’t work for the line and it spoiled the joke in my opinion, but it remained in the episode. If we used one of the legion of professional voice actors available, we could have worked with them for the perfect “voice” and delivery and nailed it.

We also used Teri Garr for an episode (not one I was directing) and I attended because I was a huge fan of hers. I got to see her behind the mike as she looked over her pages and said acidly, “This isn’t exactly Tolstoy, is it.” That is the opposite attitude you should have when you’re hired. She was soon pitching underwear afterwards...obviously not Tolstoy either.

So I’ll say it again: using celebrities can bite you on the ass.

Performances aside, I certainly did enjoy meeting legends. Carl Reiner played a priest in Noir Gang. Mind you we recorded in a small studio that was in the back of the Rugrats building that was essentially a cavernous storage room. Ed Asner looked visibly uncomfortable when we huddled around him in there. I’ll never forget the look on Marina Sirtis’ face when she arrived to record an episode. Me and a couple of other guys were laying in wait in this sketchy storage area eating our lunches. She was concerned: “is this the right place?” I felt like a lech and stopped going to records that I didn’t have to be at.

Overall, if the celebrity you’ve cast for a voice roll has theater experience, you are more likely to get a good vocal performance. Especially musical theater experience. They are more aware of their voice and have the tools. This goes for Jason and others like Tim Curry and Bebe Neuwirth; all great voice talent to have behind the mic.

You worked on the second run of Futurama, had you been a fan of the original seasons?

No. I didn’t watch the show before. I had to catch up and learn the “canon” when I was hired.

How did you get involved in working on Futurama?

The animating studio, Rough Draft, was something of a clique. They didn’t just hire “anybody” and unlike most studios, they maintain a staff of lifers who usually have the choice positions. I knew Peter Avanzino from our Simpsons days doing storyboards together, so he vouched for me. I was hired to direct on the 2nd season of Drawn Together. So they had a taste of what they could expect from me. I was no longer an unknown quantity when Futurama came around.

One of the eight episodes you directed was, ‘The Mutants are Revolting’, the shows hundredth episode. How special was it to work on such a landmark episode?

It had the most visibility of my episodes, at least internally. They made T-shirts and some publicity art and even the script had a nicer cover. But it was the episode with the most headaches. The scope of the story was huge with multiple set pieces. The opening newsreel, movie in a movie of the Land-Titanic, the asteroid delivery, the party at Planet Express, the riot in the sewers and the flood and “parting of the red sea” climax all required a ton of designs and characters; plus more hand-drawn and CG effects. That’s a lot to manage and marshall for a TV show. Most episodes don’t require the director to do this kind of heavy lifting. I find that when a show demands this much visually, the story ends up being more superficial, gag driven and episodic feeling. Such is the case for this episode. It was visually pumped up because it was representing the 100th episode; meaning I was saddled with managing lots of logistics rather than the usual character-based comedy and emotion of say, Tip of The Zoidberg, which is a relationship story that--as a director--I feel I give more time to flourish and shine with.

‘The Mutants are Revolting’ features some fantastic animation, most notably a brief sequence of Bender standing perfectly still as the Planet Express ship moves around him. Can you explain the challenges of a sequence like that?

That’s a good, insightful question. A shot like this shows off the resources Rough Draft has that aren’t available at just any other studio doing TV animation. The interior of the Planet Express Ship was built and animated in CG. At it’s gimbal point was a CG version of a stationary Bender; locked to field, but who’s feet move with the CG ship. Once the CG elements were approved, they were printed out as wire frame drawings printed onto pegged paper. My Assistant Director drew key poses of the characters on a separate layer in register with the CG print outs, old school on a light box animation disc. This all was sent to our overseas studio Rough Draft Korea for inbetweening and color of the characters only. That came back as an alpha-channeled digital file and layered over the CG animation in our digital compositing department.

Scott Vanzo runs the department and directs all the CG animation effects. I can’t remember who exactly built the interior of the PE ship and animated it, so I’ll rely on IMDb: Don Kim and Jason Plapp. But all the guys in the digital department do tremendous work and allowed us to fine tune a lot of animation (that doesn’t have CG in it); giving us the ability that raises the quality and takes the curse off of overseas animation limitations.

‘The Tip of the Zoidberg’ was nominated for a Primetime Emmy, how proud were you of that achievement and the episode itself?

The episode was one of my favorites; it was character focused and elaborating on canon so a director couldn’t ask for more. As for the Emmy nomination, it’s one of those show business awards that I realized early I can’t get emotionally vested in. The Futurama guys have a formula for figuring out which episode will be submitted. I think it has something to do with each writer getting a shot at the statue. And then from then on it’s just politics.

You’ve also done work on ‘Disenchantment’, giving you the distinction of having worked on all three of Matt Groening’s shows. What’s your relationship like with him?

I can’t help but laugh at this question. I’ve run into him twice out in public over the years and he didn’t recognize me. Once at the Moscow Cat Circus! But that humbling fact aside, he’s a genuinely nice, funny person devoid of pretence and he’s said some very complementary things about my work. However, it’s all business. Like virtually all primetime shows, he’s with the writers at their separate production office. Animation production takes place in a different geographical location. My face time is limited to usually 2-3 meeting points in a show’s schedule. Anything in between are fielded via emails routed through coordinators and assistants.

As well as short form animation you’ve been involved with several feature length productions, including ‘The Rugrats Movie’ and ‘Despicable Me’, what are the key differences between long from and short form animated projects?

I don’t think I’ve ever had a purely feature production experience. The Rugrats Movie(s) were spin-offs from TV series so some processes were grandfathered in from TV production. Despicable Me was truly off-the-wall in that the storyboard artists were working remotely from literally all over the world. No one met each other. I met with Chris Renaud once. I was not allowed to see the entire script, only pages here and there. It was called “Evil Me” at the time. I was truly working in the dark and ultimately, they didn’t use anything I drew. Which to me seemed par-for-the-course: this was one harebrained, inefficient, right-hand-doesn’t-know-what-the-left-hand-is-doing way to make a show. Again, I predicted it would fail. Again, I was wrong.

At the time I was working on Despicable Me, Gru looked like Snape from Harry Potter and there were no minions yet, just an “Igor” kind of 2nd banana that was a shorter version of the final Gru design.  

So my takeaway from those experiences is that I prefer TV production. You don’t have the luxury of a feature schedule, but there is less time for executives to get replaced, sundry monkey-business and creatives pulling the rug out from under you. However, TV is catching up in those regards. See below.

Do you have a scene or episode you’re particularly proud of working on?

I feel fulfilled and proud of directing and being supervising producer on Hey Arnold: The Jungle Movie. I was empowered to work in every aspect of the process and benefit from my experience to make it the smoothest running ship and happiest crew ever. Only at the very end did the executives get into overdrive meddling. But it ran well and looked good. It may not be as funny as my prime time stuff, but I think we elevated the material across the board; writing, design, animation quality. And it was a project put in mothballs 15 years before being resurrected. So it completes me in a way.

Ultimately, I believe work is about relationships and quality of life. The shows where you were empowered and respected and not overworked due to inefficiency are the shows I’m proud to work on. As Jim Duffy would always say, “It’s only a cartoon.”

Often sequences are cut or revised before broadcast. Do you have any favourites that didn’t make it in?

If I had, I’ve forgotten them.  

What are the biggest changes you’ve seen in the industry over your time and what do you think the next big change will be?

The trend seems to be as I get better and more efficient at my job, creators and writers (especially in streaming prime-time) are becoming more entitled, indecisive, mecurial and demanding. As processes have evolved in digital technology, we’ve opened the door for those in power indulging in more rewrites, revisions, reviews, etc. Despite the technical advancements, animation remains expensive and time intensive and good artists (especially in TV) have to work intelligently and diligently on tight schedules to produce funny, inspired, detail-oriented work. Rewrites and revisions burn out artists and make us feel like office machines and though our overlords pay for the last minute re-dos, they are often throwing out higher quality work for patchwork revisions that lower the overall quality of a show.

Who inspired you as a young animator and who do you look to now?

Ironically, I never saw myself becoming an animator. I did do some stop-motion on Super 8 as a kid. But that was because I didn’t have access to peers to act and help. What inspired me were live action directors with strong, individual styles: Orson Welles, Stanley Kubrick, Peter Greenaway and Terry Gilliam. I think of these guys in essence as “live-action-animation directors”. The stylization in their sequence planning, shot selection and composition as well as how production design integrates in their storytelling reminds me of how background design and art direction naturally occur in animation production.  

I’m sure there are new visionaries out there, but I’ve become so disenchanted with modern cinema, I rarely see new movies anymore. I find streaming TV much more interesting. Current movies strike me as self-consciously mannered and hyperactive. I find it endlessly fascinating looking back into cinema history before movies had to begin with three or four production company logos whooshing noisily about.

What advice would you give to people looking to break into the animation industry?

I’ve seen an improvement in the college educated animation students over the years. They seem to be of a higher intellectual standard than before. They aren’t as thrown by the rigors of schedule and they ALL can draw circles around me.  

Be original in your own work, but also be a craftsman (as opposed to purely an artist) who can take criticism neutrally and have the tools to fit in the grand scheme of a show that might challenge your personal aesthetics.  

Denis Sanders, a directing teacher I had in college said the director’s job is to be “an expert at all things”. In animation, that translates into intellegently knowing what to draw. If a character is looking under the hood of a car, know what an internal combustion engine looks like and what reasonable pieces you can have your character toss out of said engine. The distributor, the carburettor. Find and use reference! Go that extra step and inform your work with the texture of reality.

Don’t regurgitate old tropes. A trite example of what I’m talking about: If a character is peeking at another, avoid the obvious keyhole in the door trope. Keyholes aren’t in doors anymore. It’s been a cliche from the beginning of cinema. Rather, crack the door open, slide your cellphone under the door, look through a window or punch a hole in the door and look in. Like I said, this is a trite example, but making non-obvious choices rather than knee-jerk non-choices makes cartoons fresh and funnier.

What animated shows do you currently watch and what’s your opinion on the current state of animation?

It’s a terrible admission, but I’m not watching anything in animation. There’s a lot of animation that seems to be just writer-driven, animated live-action sit-coms. There isn’t a reason for them to be animated. Those are the kind of jobs I get offered a lot. It seems like a more trouble than it’s worth.

Who are some young animators you think we should be looking out for?

Gosh, I don’t know.

What projects are you currently working on?

I’m productively unemployed at the moment.

Where can people follow you on social media?

I only do tumblr: mashymilkiesinc.tumblr.com

[cherrymagik]

How tua tv show ruined hotel oblivion

Before I say anything: THIS IS IN NO WAY AN ATTACK TOWARDS ANYONE YOU ARE 100% FREE TO ENJOY WHATEVER CONTENT YOU WANT THIS IS JUST MY OPINION AND YOU ARE FREE TO DISAGREE (just don’t be an asshole abt and we’re good) also SPOILERS!!! for both tv show and comics

(a while back I saw a post by @fivehargreeves and i have since then been putting off this post bc i want to elaborate on it but i am too lazy and i know i never really post stuff here but this is something i feel really strongly abt especially after that s2 finale)

When I first read the umbrella academy comics one of the things I loved the most about was the world building. It was so crazy and weird (in a good way) and while I still loved the story and characters, for me the most fascinating part of them was the world. It was a world so much like ours, yet completely different and the little details in the background or those offhand mentions of aliens or other "weird" stuff made the tua world feel more alive and interesting. So obviously when n*tflix announced they were adapting the comics into a show i was thrilled. But when I watched it I was... disappointed to say the least :/

Ex. 1 The Umbrella Academy's debut- In the comics, the first time the world met the umbrella academy was when "the day Eiffel Tower went berserk" (literally)

It turns out the Eiffel Tower had been a spaceship all along establishing the first villain in the comics: Zombie Robot Gustave Eiffel. But the innthe tv show we get.... a bank robbery 😐 (not as impressive as the Eiffel Tower imo) THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO BE SUPERHEROES FOR GODS SAKE! Why are they fighting petty crime? Let them fight the Eiffel Tower you cowards!!!

Ex. 2 The Orchestra Verdammten- (@/fivehargreeves post talks specifically abt this issue and summarizes most of my thoughts so i will say very little on this point) In the comics the main antagonist for vol.1 was an orchestra made up of musicians who had gone crazy (for one reason or another) and gone missing after joining the Orchestra Verdammten. But once again the villain is replaced with something very common and might I say mediocre. This as we will see is a running thing in the show: make most of the elements that made the comics stand out and replace them with more common/normal elements.

Ex. 3 Watering down/changing most characters' powers- Would you believe me if I told you it was Klaus that stopped the moon from colliding with earth? No you wouldn’t because in the tv show his powers are so... useless. And he was not the only one who’s powers got watered down (even though he is one of the most notable examples)

Luther/Spaceboy: his powers remain the same (as far as we have seen) however I am detaching points bc i don’t like how his character arc was handled in the show

Diego/The Kraken: first of all WHY THE FUCK DO YOU THINK HES CALLED THE KRAKEN -A MARINE MONSTER- YOU IDIOTS???!!! but seriously, why did they ever think it was a good idea to ever change his powers? It takes away so much from his character! Diego’s power is breathing underwater not whatever object manipulation bullshit they gave him in the show. His powers have NOTHING to do with knife throwing yet he is still as good at it in the comics as in the show; he got that good just from practice. He obsessive with his goals and we don’t get to see that in the show bc they completely changed his powers!!! They just took part of The Séance's and gave them to him! (@/fivehargreeves also has another post on this so go check it out bc it’s better worded than mine)

Allison/The Rumor: Oh my god I could talk about her all day and how dirty they did her in the tv show!!! In the comics Allison has the power to alter REALITY ITSELF

see: (click images to view)

she manifested a whole ass statue to life! And in vol.2 (the Kennedy assassination one) she was the one that killed Kennedy! She made his head explode just by rumoring him. But noooooo they had to sideline her in s2 so they could pursue a side plot for 'wokeness points' (i am happy that they dealt with the racism she would most likely have faced in the 1960's BUT they took away ALL her protagonism in the comics and had her be a minor character) if it hadn’t been for Allison the world would have ended -> murdering Kennedy was the only way to save the world

Klaus/The Séance: ugh where do i start? Klaus is extremely powerful in the comics, like I said he was able to stop the moon from colliding with earth. Not only did they have his powers watered down, they also took away all his telekinetic abilities in the show. Also, the only way his powers can be blocked is when he’s wearing shoes not drugs (i also want to point out that the way his addiction is treated in the show is weird and sometimes even uncomfortable to me but that is another topic for another time). His ability to summon the dead are almost nothing like in the show as compared to the comics he is called The Séance you know but whatever where he not only does he speak TO the dead he can also MANIFEST them through him which was probably the most important factor in stopping Vanya/The White Violin in Apocalypse Suite + not giving him his EXTREMELY WELL DESERVED FAME!!! 😤 THE AUDACITY!!! (I have talked abt Klaus before on another post)

Number Five: I don’t have much to say about him except that he is a lot darker in the comics and not as loving about his family as they make him in the show *cough* shooting vanya in the head *cough* but for the most part.... he’s fine ig (my main problem is they make him idk? too playful(?) in s1 when he actually he is all dry humor and dark jokes)

Ben/The Horror: doesn’t really appear in the comics so nothing to say here

Vanya/The White Violin: not including her transformation in the show was cowardly and having her be manipulated by a man was uh kinda problematic if I may say so. We only ever see her use her powers in vol.1 since she was crippled by getting shot in the head at the end of it and hasn’t been able to do much since then. Her story has been completely changed in the show and i am still not completely sure i like it. Her dealing with trauma and coming to terms with her childhood are quickly brushed away and not really delved into as opposed to the comics where she is still trying to process it

Ex. 4 Technology- The World in the comics is a lot more sci-fi than in the show where it almost an exact copy of ours. For one: the chimpanzees. In the comics Pogo isn’t the only one, we can see a lot of others in the background

Also stuff like the televator or the hotel oblivion are never mentioned or alluded to in the show

Now to get to the main point of this post: IT IS IMPOSSIBLE AT THIS POINT THAT THE TV SHOW WILL BE ABLE TO FOLLOW HOTEL OBLIVION'S PLOT BECAUSE IT DEPENDS ON THERE BEING VILLAINS!!!

This are superhero comics! Maybe we don’t see them fighting all the villains that appear in hotel oblivion, but the fact is that they are there! They are part of the world and part of what makes it breathe and come alive on the pages. To paraphrase (albeit a VERY simplified paraphrase) Watchmen (don’t tell me it didn’t influence tua bc IT DID and i can prove it) 'if there are superheroes then there are villains' especially in a world where superpowers exist and technology is a lot more advanced than in watchmen where they were all normal people (with the exception of dr. manhattan). But by dumbing down the world in the show we are left with a flavorless setting that has no effect whatsoever on the plot (compared to the comics). Maybe some aspects like the Sparrow Academy will be included (I am kinda scared to think where they will go with it) but it won’t be Hotel Oblivion. In s1 I could point out where the comics had influenced the show, hell even in s2 you could see the comic's influence but... Hotel Oblivion? I don’t see any possibility of it getting to tv and that’s the truth

[cinderella1181]

Battle Cries Chapter 2

TITLE: Battle Cries

CHAPTER NUMBER: Chapter 2 /?

AUTHOR: Cinderella1181

WHICH Henry/CHARACTER: AU Henry Cavill /Juniper Denholm

GENRE: Romance/Comedy

FIC SUMMARY: Henry Cavill is the fourth son of the Lord and Lady of St. Helier. He is also now 37 still living at home and has no plans to move out. His father, recently retired, is forcing Henry to live on his own. Set up nicely, by his parents Henry has to find his place in the world and find real love for the first time with a girl he didn’t necessarily think he would even like. 

PREVIOUS:  Chapter 1

RATING: M (sex, language)

WARNINGS: Lots of Language in this! (Also, Joey is adorable)

AUTHORS NOTES:  Feedback is always appreciated. Especially since it’s been a hot minute since I’ve really written anything!

 Juniper was sitting cross legged on the couch, the end of the movie fading into the credits. She sighed.  “I could watch that movie over and over.” She reached over and put her cup down. She stood, stretching.  “Do we want to watch another, or head to bed?”

Madeleine looked at her and shrugged.  “I’m not very tired. We could get some more snacks and then watch another movie.” She stood. “I can’t imagine we have many left, though. we have done a fine job.”  

“Madeleine!!!” A voice called from outside.  “MY LOVE!!! OPEN YON WINDOW!!” 

Madeleine looked at her.  “Oh no, what did…” She went over to the window and threw it open. “Joey, what are you doing?”

“I’ve come to profess my love for you!!” he screamed out, supported by Henry. “Let me go! I can do this!”

Henry looked up at her.  “I’m sorry... He had a little too much mead.” 

“I did not! I had just enough to come home and tell her…” He stopped and turned to Henry. “What's I going to say?”

He shook his head. “You loved her.”  

“Yup! Madeleine, I love you. You make my heart soar!” he called. 

She laughed.  “Joey, I love you, too. Go back to Hen’s, and I will see you in the morning, you romantic git.” 

“No! I need a kiss first,” Joey said, and before anyone could stop him, he started climbing up the trellis. “I’m coming, my fair maiden.”

Juniper appeared next to her, and Joey continued blathering, “Oh, good! Juni, this is Hen, you should use him to get over… My dear, what was the wanker she was dating, Lakes, Streams, Rivers? Fuck, I don’t know! There was water involved,” Joey called.  “Hen, this is Juniper…” He swung one arm off the trellis, and as he did, the movement took him further back and Joey quickly lost his footing. 

The three less inebriated people watched in horror as Joey fell, landing loudly in the bins.  “Joey!!” Madeleine called out. 

Joey didn’t move and let out a moan.

“Hen! Don’t move him! Call 999!” Madeleine called out and came back in the window.  

Juniper grabbed her sweatshirt and threw it on, following Madeleine out the door and down to the ground level. Joey was sitting up.  “I’m fine, Hen! I am fine.”

Henry looked at Madeleine.  “He won’t let me call.”

“He’s going to call, you daft git!” she said. “I swear!”

“I am fine, my love.” Joey said. He tried to stand up. “Oh, I think I will just sit here for a few moments. I feel a little woozy.”

“We can just take him to the A&E, “ Juniper said. “I can drive us.” 

Joey pointed at her. “Yes! That is a grand idea!” 

Madeleine shook her head.  “Fine.” She looked at Henry.  “Can you help get him up? I’ll grab your keys and lock up.” She disappeared.

Juniper went over to her car. “Bring him over here.”  

Henry looked at her, one of his eyebrows up.  “Um, are we all going to fit into that...what’s the word I'm looking for, Hot Wheel?”  

She looked at him, frowning.  “It’s got plenty of room, and I’ll have you know it’s very efficient in London.” She ran her hand over the top of the car.  “Don’t listen to him, Petunia.” 

“You named your car Petunia?” Henry asked.  “Seriously?”

Juniper rolled her eyes at him. “What do you call your car. Car?”  

“I don’t call it anything. I get in it and I drive.” He maneuvered Joey so he was on the passenger side in the back. Madeleine, by this time, made her appearance and handed the keys over to Juniper.  “I say we put him and Madeleine in the back.”

“Why don’t you sit in the back with him?” Juniper asked. 

“I’m not going to fit in the back with him. I am barely going to fit in this car as it is.” He shook his head.  “This may come as a shock, I am a large man. I suspect Waterfall was not in any way... impressive.”

“He was smart, and a wonderful man,” she replied. “And his name was Rivers.”

“And that is why you are single,” he said. 

“Let's just get him in the car and then you can go back to hiding under the rock you came from,” Juniper said. 

It was Henry’s turn to roll his eyes and he began to maneuver his friend in the back of the car. Soon, after a great deal of grunting and positioning, he was finally in and moaning in pain.  “I think I’ve broken something,” Joey said quietly.

“I am sure you have,” Madeleine said.  “Hen, you are going to have to come with us, there is no way the two of us can get him out. You ride up front with Juniper.” Before either of them could protest, Madeleine finished her statement with a definitive. “Now!”

Juniper sat in the driver's seat. Henry sat in the passenger side and went to buckle himself in. His elbow swung up and connected with her cheek. “Watch it!” she cried out. 

“Watch what?” he said, frozen in space. “What did I do?”

“You hit me in the face!” Juniper exclaimed. 

Henry brought his arm down, hitting her again.  “Oh... uh... Sorry.”

Juniper sighed. “Let’s just go, you brute.” 

####

Juniper yawned and sat up the next morning as the sun streamed in through the window.  She wasn’t sure what time of the day it was, because once they had returned from the hospital, Madeleine had taken Joey to bed. She had finally crawled into her own bed, just as the light was starting to change. 

She sat up and put her feet on the floor, getting her bearings before heading into the bathroom. She didn’t bother to look, or even knock, when she opened the door up and was hit with a wall of steam in her face.  

“Um, it's occupied!” A deep voice said. 

Juniper stood there a second, gazing at an almost completely nude Henry standing in the shower, a towel barely covering him. She quickly turned and shut the door.  “You should have locked it!”

“You should have knocked when you saw it was closed.” He called out through the door.  “Manners would state that you would.”

“Why are you even still here?” She asked. “And are you going to be very much longer? I have to use the loo.” 

She could hear him muttering from the other side of the door. He opened the door, looked down at her, now fully dressed.  “I am still here because after you just unceremoniously went to bed, someone had to stay up with the invalid.”

“I heard that…” Joey’s voice came from the bedroom at the end of the hall. 

He sighed.  “Someone had to help Madeleine make sure he was okay. And since I was the first one up this morning, I figured I could grab a shower after my run. As it is, I’m going to have to go straight to the comic book store when I leave here.” 

“Why would you have to go… OH MY GOD!” she said and lunged out of the way as a huge black and white dog ran toward her.  “WHAT IS THAT?”

Henry looked at her as she hid behind him.  “That is my dog.”

“It’s fucking huge!” she said.  “Keep it away from me!” 

“Kal, go lay down,” he said. The dog turned in the hall and trotted back to find himself a spot on the carpet. 

Madeleine came into the hall. “It’s about time you got up.” She smiled.  “Brekkie is in the kitchen. I am going to check on Romeo,” she said as she glided past them and down the hall. 

He nodded at her and turned back so he was facing Juniper.  “As you were going to ask me why I was going to the store. I work there,” he said.  “That is why I am still here and why I have clothes and things for a shower here.” He leaned in to her, his blue eyes staring into her hazel ones. “Nosey.”

She gasped. “I am not!”

Henry didn’t reply and headed out to the living room.   “Kal, come on boy, let’s go,” he said and opened the door to the apartment.  “Bye!” He called out behind him.  

Juniper stomped her foot. She had never met a man who so infuriated her to her very core. She went into the bathroom and slammed the door, hoping to never see him again. 

[hbostolemysoul]

Band of Brothers fluff alphabet: Ronald Speirs

A = Attractive (What do they find attractive about the other?)

While Speirs appreciates many things about you physically, the thing that attracts him most to you is how you don’t seem to fear him like all the other soldiers. Unlike the band of idiots (as you lovingly call them) you don’t take rumours at face value, there is more to Speirs than a scary reputation.  

B = Baby (Do they want a family? Why/Why not?)

Speirs had a not so pleasant childhood. So the whole family thing scares him a bit. The last thing he wants is for his child to grow up with someone who doesn’t know how to be a father. You understand where his hesitation comes from, it also provides you a starting point into reassuring him that he is already a better man/father than his was due to the fact that he is worrying over the wellbeing of your hypothetical children.

When baby Speirs does come along it is almost comical how frightened Ron looks as you plop the tiny human into his arms for the first time. In true Speirs fashion the two stare each other down until your newborn yawns and closes their eyes. Ron doesn’t smile much, but he smiled then (even though he denies it).  

C = Cuddle (How do they cuddle?)

Ron spent most of the war alone in his own foxhole due to his reputation. He got used to sleeping alone until he joined Easy and you made it your mission to unravel the mystery that was Ronald Speirs. He would never admit to cuddling out loud…but there were times when he woke up with you cuddled into his side, and his arm may or may not have found its way around you, holding you just a bit closer.  

D = Dates (What are dates with them like?)

Believe it or not, dancing. (most would believe not).

Ron is actually a wonderful dancer, and when its just the two of you, whether in your home or at a local bar he enjoys holding your close and swaying to the music.

E = Everything (You are my __ (e.g. my life, my world…))

“you are something else…” (said in response to you accepting the feared cigarette he offered you upon your first meeting)

F = Feelings (When did they know they were in love?)

Ron is nothing, if not emotionally constipated. Knowing him he probably convinced himself that the tightening in his chest when he looked at you was due to indigestion.

He knew he loved you when you found him after Grant had been shot. He was angry, and everyone had given him a wide berth after he left the drunk replacement alive, and to the MPs. You just leaned against the door frame of his room and casually offered him a cigarette. The gesture calmed something in him, the raging fury behind his eyes dying out just a little bit. Your small smile when he took the aforementioned cigarette definitely didn’t help the tightening in his chest…he also now knew that he could not blame his feelings on indigestion anymore.

G = Gentle (Are they gentle? If so, how?)

Ron is an intense guy. Most things with him are fiery and passionate. It isn’t until later in your relationship (where he feels more secure) that things become gentle, yet somehow more passionate than before.  

H = Hands (How do they like to hold hands?)

Ronald Speirs does not hold hands…at least not in public, and definitely not around his men. More often then not his hand will find its way to your lower back, a gentle pressure that is all too quickly removed as he continues on his way. Most might find that infuriating but knowing Ron the way you do you know it's his way of checking in on you, and letting you know he is still there.

I = Impression (What was their first impression?)

You were one of the first to approach him other than Winters, Nixon, and Lipton, when he was reassigned to Easy company. You were genuinely friendly, a completely unexpected occurrence considering he knew the kinds of rumours that floated around about him. To further test if you were genuine he offered you a cigarette, you smiled and accepted pulling a lighter out of your pocket and offering the flame to him as well. Speirs knew then that you would be trouble.

Meanwhile, Perconte and Luz visibly froze in the background. Shooting fearful glances at each other as they watched in horror as you accepted without a moment’s hesitation. Speirs shot them a look soon after you left, it was in those few moments that both Luz and Perconte decided that this was a story that didn’t need to be shared after all.

J = Jealousy (Do they get jealous?)

Yes. Definitely yes. Will he admit to it? Hell no.

When you go out he is always touching you in some way, a hand at your back, or around your waist. It's not that he doesn’t trust you, or think that you aren’t capable of kicking ass should someone not understand the word no. It's more a reassurance to him. Ron is used to being alone, an outcast of sorts. He has a lot more insecurity than anyone (except you) may know. You can feel the way he pulls you a bit closer when other men look your way, you’ve learned to just lean into his touch and reassure him that you aren’t going anywhere.

K = Kiss (How do they kiss? Who initiated the first kiss?)

He did. The war was all but over, and in classic Easy fashion a majority of the men had been drinking steadily most of the evening, Ron included. You had taken over a shift at the medical station, so Roe would finally go get some god damned sleep. Speirs found his way in, made eye contact with you and just walked over and kissed you. You could taste the champagne on his lips, it was intense, but come to think of it most things about Ron were. When he broke away he just stared at you, gauging your reaction for a few moments. You just smiled, grabbed him by the collar and initiated another mind-blowing kiss.

L = Love (Who says ‘I love you’ first?)

You do. You were being sent back home with some of the other guys (not by your own free will mind you) the army had been grateful for your service, but the idea of having a woman in war any longer than absolutely necessary put the higher-ups on edge. Ron had been avoiding you since he found out. He could be frustratingly elusive when he wanted to be. It took you almost an entire day before you tracked him down on some stupid balcony, the look he shot you was guarded. While things with Ron had been relatively new, he had opened up enough that you knew he had been distancing himself so it would hurt less when you “inevitably left him”. What he didn’t realize was that while you were physically being shipped back home, there was no way in hell that you were ‘leaving’ him. The speech you gave him was nothing short of inspirational. It took a lot to learn how to “operate a Speirs”, but you had finally cracked the code as he visibly relaxed as you pulled him into a gentle kiss. “You know I put up with your moody crap because I love you right?” you said half-jokingly, he just smiled and pulled you closer. Perhaps whispering the words into your hair as he did so.

M = Memory (What’s their favourite memory together?)

You waiting for him at the train station as he finally arrived back home. While he thought you were always beautiful, it was something else entirely to see you out of uniform and in civilian clothes. He never truly felt like he had a home before, but having you there waiting for him with watery eyes and a big smile changed that. You were his home.

N = Nickel (Do they spoil? Do they buy the person they love everything?)

Speirs had a habit of ‘collecting’ shiny things while you were together in Europe. It's safe to say that you were only slightly exasperated when packages of silver plates and other things began arriving to your home during the months that you were separated.

O = Orange (What colour reminds them of their other half?)

White. Like the snow in Bastogne when he first met you. Even now when it snows Ron can still picture the way the soft snowflakes would find their way into your lashes and hair as ‘forced’ your way into his foxhole.

P = Pet names (What pet names do they use?)

Ronald Speirs does not do pet names…until you are married, and the words ‘Mrs. Speirs’ being lightly rasped into your neck bring about a whole new meaning.

Q = Quaint (What is their favourite non-modern thing?)

Ron likes the old-timey silver lighters. He has an old one he found over in Germany that he carries with him to this day.

R = Rainy Day (What do they like to do on a rainy day?)

Bed. He likes to stay in bed, more specifically he likes YOU in bed with him.

S = Sad (How do they cheer themselves/others up?)

Ron doesn’t do emotions. So the first time he saw you cry he had a bit of internal panic. Is it safe to touch you? Should he get you a tissue? Does he need to go hurt someone? It isn’t until you grumble to him to just ‘get over here and hold me’ that he finally starts to figure things out. Safe to say he can now pick up on your moods quite easily, and whenever possible already has you in his arms before the tears begin to fall.

T = Talking (What do they like to talk about?)

He is more of a listener. Comes from a lifetime of being a loner you guess. But he loves watching the way you light up and get animated about certain things when you talk.

U = Unencumbered (What helps them relax?)

He smokes. Which he knows he should try and quit, especially with baby Speirs around. It’s worst for him at night. You often times find your bed empty in the middle of the night, but the gentle snores (plural Daddy Speirs + baby Speirs) coming from the nursery put at ease. When you first started noticing his absences you would go looking for him. You would always find him in the nursery, the baby held gently yet securely to his chest as he softly spoke to them, sometimes there would be tiny baby coo’s in response.  

V = Vaunt (What do they like to show off? What are they proud of?)

Now that you have ‘domesticated your Speirs’ he isn’t all that showy. But you’ll be damned if you ever forget how he would smile cheekily as he wandered around Germany carrying as much silver as possible.

W = Wedding (When, how, where do they propose?)

It would be small, probably a courthouse thing. He isn’t close to his family, and yours lived so far away that it didn’t make sense for them to travel so far. Regardless your family sent their blessings for you and Ron. It wasn’t some fairy tale wedding, but it suited the both of your just fine.

X = Xylophone (What’s their song?)

Maps- (covered by Freya Ridings)

Y = Yes (Do they ever think of getting married/proposing?)

Yep. Small and to the point. Ron honestly would have been okay with a big wedding if that is what you had wanted. All that really mattered to him was that you wanted to be his wife.

Z = Zebra (If they wanted a pet, what would they get?)

You get a cat. Mostly because your nosey neighbors hate them, and Ron hates your nosey neighbors.